News writer
A masked thief thought he hit the jackpot — literally — after allegedly breaking into a Nashville convenience store and making off with thousands in cash and stacks of Tennessee Lottery scratch-off tickets. But what seemed like a clean getaway quickly began to unravel.
Investigators say it wasn’t DNA or fingerprints that gave him away — it was a flashy watch, a visible tattoo, and a trail of redeemed tickets that led straight back to the suspect.
An unusual break-in
Around 4:00 a.m. CST on October 14, 2024, a man broke into Thompson Lane Market, located at 1004 E. Thompson Lane Suite B in Nashville. The suspect was able to gain access to the store by allegedly cutting a hole through the ceiling, according to an affidavit filed by the District Attorney’s Office.
After entering the store, officials said the suspect proceeded to steal cash and several books of Tennessee Lottery scratch-off tickets. The approximate value of the cash and lottery tickets stolen was $19,000.
Investigators were able to obtain surveillance video from the incident and noticed the suspect wearing a large watch and he had a distinctive tattoo on his left hand. Authorities were able to match both of those indicators to previous documentation of Ernesto E. Hernandez-Ramos, Jr.
Despite the suspect wearing a mask in the surveillance video, officials said the suspect’s size, build, and gait further supported their suspicions of it being Hernandez-Ramos.
Cashing in the winning tickets
After stealing the cash and lottery tickets, the suspect then tried to cash-in on the winning tickets he stole. Detectives were able to trace the lottery tickets from the burglary to two nearby markets.
Officials obtained surveillance footage again, which shows Hernandez-Ramos cashing the tickets in while still wearing the same watch from the burglary.
Officials from the Tennessee Lottery Commission confirmed with police that Hernandez-Ramos was the only individual to redeem tickets connected to the robbery.
Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Hernandez-Ramos on October 23, 2024. However, he was only recently arrested and charged with felony theft, according to court documents filed in Davidson County.
The case was filed in Davidson County Criminal Court on April 22, 2025.
Recent winners doing it the right way
While Hernandez-Ramos was allegedly trying to get his big winner by stealing some lottery tickets, other players in Tennessee were doing it the right way and winning big money.
Charvis Austin recently made his way to lottery headquarters to claim his winnings from a 50X The Win scratch-off ticket. The lucky man won the top prize on the $5 instant game, winning $250,000.
Austin purchased the winning ticket from the Oakland Marathon, located at 7145 US-64 in Oakland.
Another recent big winner was Alvin Bills, who made his way to lottery headquarters to claim his winnings from a 100X The Win scratch-off ticket. He happened to win the top prize for this $10 instant game, which is $500,000.
Bills purchased his winning ticket from Fast Stop #1, located at 2100 Wall Street in Spring Hill.
Enjoy playing the Tennessee Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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