Sex pills and lottery tickets stolen in Fresno liquor store burglary

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- At Palm and Shields Liquor in Central Fresno, there are two ways to get in: the easy way and the hard way. Tuesday morning, burglars took the hard way. They scaled two fences, climbed on top of the roof and used garden hoses to drop through a vent.

Tommy Shaw, a witness, said, "I can't see how they took the air conditioner. The alarm should have went off after removing all that stuff."

Shaw was delivering newspapers when it happened. The store is near his route and drove by when police responded, "They said they had someone on the roof with a flashlight," Shaw added, "next thing I know, they called the fire department and got up on the ladder."

By that time, the burglars were already gone. According to the store clerk, they were in and out in 15 minutes. They stole $15,000 in lottery tickets and a bunch of sex pills, each worth $10 to $15 a piece.

One of the store regulars walked in recognized one of the hoses. It was still dangling from the vent, hours after the heist, "The hose was missing, I said, you know what, I bet that's the same hose," the man said, "Sure enough, it was."

There are surveillance cameras a few feet away from the entry point. The clerk says the whole thing was caught on video but the owner doesn't want to share it.

As for the lottery tickets, a spokesperson for the lottery office says they could be active but if the store owner reports them, they will be flagged as stolen.