LITTLE ROCK — A Stuttgart man faces 229 charges after police arrested him and accused him of trying to cash stolen lottery tickets in a Little Rock convenience store, according to arrest reports.
Cedric Qualls, 21, went into the Mapco store at West 12th Street and Fair Park Boulevard about 9:15 a.m. to cash some lottery tickets, a report said.
But a clerk contacted the Arkansas Lottery Commission, and the tickets were confirmed as stolen from a previous theft in Stuttgart.
The employee locked the store’s doors to keep Qualls inside until police arrived.
Qualls was handcuffed, and while being taken to a squad car, he broke away from an officer and ran in handcuffs to a nearby hotel room, said Little Rock Police Department spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis.
When police tracked him down, they found two others in the room, as well as a “number of lottery tickets,” Davis said.
The three were detained, but two were released, Davis said.
The investigation is still ongoing, police said.
Qualls was charged with 114 counts of lottery fraud, a class D felony, punishable by up to six years in prison per count.
He was also charged with 114 counts of misdemeanor theft by receiving and third degree escape, also a misdemeanor.
Qualls remained at the Pulaski County jail where he was being held without bond.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 11/27/2012