Michigan couple who won $500,000 in state lottery nearly four years ago accused in series of burglaries

A Michigan couple who won $500,000 in the state lottery in 2016 has been busted in a series of burglaries.

Mitchell Arnswald and wife Stephanie Harvell were arrested Aug. 29 following a burglary in Merritt Township, according to MLive.com. They are suspected of multiple crimes in five counties over a two-month span.

The residents were not home when the burglaries took place, according to MLive.com.

The charges come nearly four years after they won the $500,000 prize in Michigan’s Hot Jackpot Instant Game in January of 2016. They said at the time that they were living paycheck-to-paycheck while raising their two young daughters.

“We both work really hard, and it’s been tough to support our family,” Harvell said after winning the lottery. “We recently lost a car and the day I scratched off this ticket we got an eviction notice.”

They had purchased the winning $5 ticket at a gas station in Bay City. Harvell added that “it’s hard to find words for what this means to our family, but it couldn’t have come at a better time."

Arnswald, 29, and Harvell, 28, were arraigned Friday for home invasion and possession of burglary tools.