The crook used a large rock to bust through the door of GAT Beer on Grant Avenue in Bustleton.
Hours before Powerball officials conducted the second-richest lottery drawing in the nation’s history, an unidentified hoodlum tried to generate his own jackpot at the expense of a Bustleton beer store, police say.
But he ended up with a bad beat instead.
The crook got away with only a handful of scratch-off lottery tickets and some pocket change on Aug. 23, police said, despite his Herculean effort to bust through the front door of the business.
Patrol cops responded to the sounding of a burglary alarm at GAT Beer, 1900 Grant Ave., just before 1 a.m. The intruder had already fled, but he left telling surveillance video behind.
The video showed the hoodie-wearing suspect using both arms to hurl a large rock or chunk of masonry at the window in the front door. After shattering the glass, he crawled inside and raided the register and lottery ticket stash.
But his take was considerably less than the $700 million-plus jackpot that awaited the winner of the Powerball drawing conducted that night.
Police released the surveillance video publicly one week after the crime. Visit the Philadelphia Police channel on YouTube to view it. Call 215–686-TIPS or text to PPD TIP to report information. ••
