Prosecutors: Couple stole lottery ticket dispenser from Prospect Heights store

A man and a woman who prosecutors say have five pending burglary cases apiece are charged with stealing a lottery scratch ticket dispenser from a Prospect Heights liquor store.

Prosecutors say David Delgado, 46, of Chicago, broke the glass door of the liquor store early on Oct. 15 and took the machine, which he handed to Mary Gouge, 40, also of Chicago. Police officers arrived at the store about 6:30 a.m. and spoke with a witness who directed them to an abandoned lottery machine where they found evidence of a "blood-like substance," said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Jennifer Gates.

Police gave local police departments photos of the break-in taken from the store's surveillance video, Gates said. Later that day, video surveillance captured Gouge at a River Grove gas station with 24 scratch tickets, Gates said.

On Oct. 16, Skokie police contacted Prospect Heights officers about a similar crime and identified the defendants through the photos, Gates said. In addition to the gas station video, Prospect Heights police obtained surveillance video of Gouge at a Norridge grocery store, she said.

On Dec. 18, test results linked the "blood-like substance" found on the ticket dispenser to Delgado, according to Gates.

Both defendants have three pending burglary cases in Skokie's Second Municipal District and two pending cases at the George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago.

Cook County Judge Samuel Betar set bail at $50,000 for both defendants. However, Cook County jail records show both Delgado and Gouge are being held without bail.

Prosecutors say Gouge has five misdemeanor convictions from Tennessee, Alabama and Illinois. Delgado, who is on parole for a 2013 armed robbery conviction, also has convictions for robbery and burglary, Gates said.

They next appear in court on Feb. 6.