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Man in wheelchair robbed of lotto winnings

Posted at 1:03 PM, Feb 07, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-07 13:03:28-05

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WTVR) -- Police in Newport News are trying to find the person who robbed a man in a wheelchair of all his lottery winnings.

All of this took place just a few feet away from his retirement community.

Robert Jones won $500 Friday night after playing the lottery at a convenience store.

He shared some of his winnings with the two clerks and a friend, but then his luck changed in a matter of minutes.

Surveillance photos show the man who robbed him.

The grandfather said the suspect lives nearby, and he worries about his neighbors.

"He's going to hurt somebody or somebody's going to hurt him," Jones said, "He needs to be taken off the streets because we have senior citizens who live here and all these decent people here."

The 62-year-old, who receives dialysis treatments every week, has been in a wheelchair for the last 30 years after he lost his leg to diabetes.

Jones says if the young man was really in desperate need for cash, he should have just asked for the money.