Michigan couple Stephanie Harvell and Mitchell Arnswald, who won $500,000 in Michigan Lottery arrested for five-county burglary spree as police reveal they owe three years of property taxes
Stephanie Harvell and Mitchell Arnswald of Bangor, Michigan, were charged with second-degree home invasion and possession of burglary tools
The couple who won $500,000 in Michigan Lottery three years ago were arrested for five-county burglary spree
Harvell, 28, and Arnswald, 29, are suspects in a series of daytime home invasions in Bay, Arenac, Saginaw, Midland, and Tuscola counties
Duo were nabbed after cops spotted their Ford SUV at a store where they were purchasing crow bars and rubber gloves
Cops found items stolen from their last robbery including a safe in the back of their vehicle
Investigators researched town treasury records and discovered the couple owed three years in back taxes on their home.
The couple was living ‘paycheck-to-paycheck’ when Arnswald won $500,000 in a Michigan instant scratch-off game in 2016
Investigators reveal the couple owe three years of property taxes
![Stephanie Harvell, [left], and Mitchell Arsnwald 1](https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Stephanie-Harvell-left-and-Mitchell-Arsnwald-1.jpg?resize=620%2C531&ssl=1)
Stephanie Harvell, [left], and Mitchell Arsnwald [right], are being held in the Bay County Jail on $5,000 cash bonds. They were each charged with second-degree home invasion and possession of burglary tools
Stephanie Harvell, 28, and Mitchell Arnswald, 29, were arrested walking out of a Meijer department store in Hampton Township on August 29 they had just purchased crow bars and rubber gloves, Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham said.
Authorities waited outside the store after spotting the couple’s Ford SUV, which matched the description of a suspect vehicle that was linked to the string of burglaries in all five counties.
Harvell and Arnswald, who won a $500,000 state lottery jackpot three years ago [photo], have been charged in a three-month burglary spree that targeted at least a dozen homes across five counties
The couple were arrested walking out of a Meijer dept store [photo], in Hampton Township on Aug 29, having just purchased crow bars and rubber gloves. A safe from the home they had just burgled and other items were in the back of their vehicle
Harvell and Arnswald, who live in Bangor, are being held in the Bay County Jail on $5,000 cash bonds. They were each charged with second-degree home invasion and possession of burglary tools.
‘There will be more charges coming,’ Cunningham revealed.
A law enforcement task force assembled to investigate the burglaries had researched local treasury records to discover that the couple owes three-years worth of taxes on their home.
Cunningham said that it was later through media reports that investigators also learned that Arnswald had won the lottery in 2016.
Arnswald had purchased the winning scratch-off ticket in the Michigan Lottery’s Hot Jackpot instant game at a gas station.
After winning the lottery, Harvell, a mother of two, and Arnswald who were living paycheck to paycheck, said they were going to use the $500,000 payout from their lottery winnings to buy a house and a car, and set up college funds for her daughters, which appears not to be the case
‘I cried like a baby when I saw what I’d won,’ Harvell said in an interview with lottery officials. ‘I still can’t believe it.’
Harvell said she and Arnswald had been living paycheck-to-paycheck.
‘We both work really hard, and it’s been tough to support our family,’ said Harvell. ‘We recently lost a car and the day I scratched off this ticket we got an eviction notice.’
Harvell and Arnswald personally visited Lottery headquarters to claim their prize, which they had planned to use to buy a house and a car, and set up college funds for her daughters.
Sheriff Cunningham said the couple did not mention their lottery winnings, or if they had ever carried out the plans they laid out for the prize money.
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