A Michigan couple who won $500,000 playing the lottery in 2016 is accused of burglarizing homes in the state, police said.
Stephanie Harvell and Mitchell Arnswald were charged with one count each of second-degree home invasion and possession of burglary tools in connection with the incident.
Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham told M Live that the couple is accused of carrying out several daytime burglaries in five different counties over a period of two months. Cunningham added that the burglaries occurred when the homeowners were not at home.
Harvell bought a lottery scratch-off ticket in January 2016 from a Speedway Gas Station in Bay City when she realized she won the top prize of $500,000. At the time, she said she and her husband were living paycheck-to-paycheck and received an eviction notice the same day they discovered the winning ticket.
On Monday, a police task force comprising of the five different counties where the home invasions occurred—Bay, Saginaw, Arenac, Midland, and Tuscola—was investigating the burglaries when they found a suspect vehicle linked to the invasions.
Police responded to a home invasion call in Merritt Township on August 29, discovering that there was a Ford SUV that matched the description of the vehicle linked to the string of burglaries.
Authorities found both Harvell, 28, and Arnswell, 29, in the SUV and arrested them. A search of the vehicle found items from the Merritt Township home, Cunningham said.
Both remain jailed on $50,000 bond as of Monday morning and are expected to be back in court September 18.