A Philadelphia man is facing a variety of felony and misdemeanor charges after he was arrested three times in one week across Montgomery and Bucks counties, including an arrest in Montgomery Township where he allegedly broke into a deli on Stump Road and stole thousands of dollars’ worth of lottery tickets.
Montgomery Township Police were dispatched to the Giant Food Store at 9:30 a.m. on April 8 for a report of a retail theft. Upon arrival, they encountered 32-year-old Mohamed Amrouche, who had allegedly stolen a small amount of merchandise from the store.
Court records show Amrouche would ultimately receive a non-traffic citation for retail theft (non-arrest), in connection with the incident. However, while on scene, police said they noticed two large bulges in Amrouche’s front pockets, and upon being searched, they found more than 750 new, unused, and used Pennsylvania lottery tickets with a face value of more than $2,350. They also recovered a set of keys with a dog tag attached, which Amrouche could not explain, according to charging documents.
Investigators later learned that Amrouche was pulling the tickets out of his pockets at the register, scratching them off and cashing in the winners, police said.
With Amrouche in custody, the lottery tickets were traced back to Lindinger’s Deli along the 500 block of Stump Road in Montgomery Township. Upon being contacted by police, an employee confirmed that the tickets were missing from behind the counter and the keyring found in Amrouche’s pockets opened the front door of the deli, according to the complaint.
Upon inspection of the exterior of the building, investigators found that an employee entrance door and frame had been badly damaged. Police allege that Amrouche had pried the door open and entered the deli, then stole the keys and lottery tickets from behind the counter.
As a result of the investigation, Amrouche was charged with felony counts of burglary, criminal trespassing, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, along with misdemeanor counts of loitering and prowling at nighttime, criminal mischief and possession of an instrument of crime.
He is currently in custody at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $95,000 cash bail.
Prior to Friday’s felony burglary arrest — and non-traffic citation for retail theft — Amrouche had been arrested two other times in Upper Dublin and Warminster townships on April 2 and April 7, respectively.
Court records show that Amrouche was charged by Upper Dublin Police with felony counts of burglary, criminal trespassing, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, and he was subsequently released from custody on April 3 on $10,000 unsecured bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 22.
Four days later, court records show Amrouche was arrested in Warminster Township on misdemeanor charges of retail theft, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and retail theft – destroying an inventory control tag. He was released from custody that same day on $20,000 unsecured bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 19.
In total, Amrouche was arrested three times over a seven-day period, including a fourth non-traffic citation for retail theft. His preliminary hearing for the charges out of Montgomery Township is scheduled for May 3 at 9:45 a.m. in front of District Judge Andrea Duffy.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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