Club Manager, Girlfriend Accused of Stealing Powerball Winner's Money

Fox News ^ | August 7, 2003

[Wolfie]

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

[RJCogburn]

The day he collected his lump sum payment, he said he would tithe 10 percent of his winnings to charity, and he has donated at least $3 million to various churches.

Same churches as Jim Bakker and Swaggert, I'm guessing.

[skinkinthegrass]

Hmmm...His own PI, nice touch. WARNING! :)...and trouble $oon follow$...stupid greedy morons (the perps).

[commish]

It is hard to feel sorry for any moron who would have over a half Million dollars in a brief case in his car in a strip club parking lot.

[RippleFire]

And he left it idling out side the strip club? This just gets better.

[RogueIsland]

An imbecile and his money are soon parted...

[ex-Texan]

Appears this thread needed a "hold 'muh briefcase alert."

Dumb crooks. Really, really dumb. Somebody should have left the club after faking illness and stashed the cash off the property. Or, at least done something other than hide the cash behind a trash bin. Cancel that remark. The crooks were really stupid. They deserved to be caught and were caught.

The victim needs a full time bodyguard or at least a baby sitter. He is driving around doing the sleazy bar scene and going to strip clubs? He is lucky he did not end up dead. There are clubs here in Portland where people have been killed by robbers over a mere $ 500.

[mountaineer]

More, from the Charleston Gazette:

After two blue capsules were slipped into Jack Whittaker’s drink at a Cross Lanes strip club, a manager at the club used a hammer to smash the window of Whittaker’s sport-utility vehicle and steal more than half a million dollars, police said Thursday.

Jeffrey Caplinger, 23, and his girlfriend, Misty Dawn Arnold, 24, turned themselves in to police Thursday afternoon and were charged with second-degree robbery.

Police said Arnold, also an employee at the Pink Pony strip club, drugged Whittaker, the multimillionaire Powerball winner, at the club early Tuesday morning.

Caplinger then allegedly broke out the window of Whittaker’s SUV and took a briefcase with $545,000. The couple then staged a break-in of their own car to cover up their crime, police said.

Whittaker’s investigator found the briefcase behind a Dumpster a short time after authorities arrived on the scene. All the money — $245,000 in cash and $300,000 in cashier’s checks — was accounted for.

Whittaker’s bizarre night out began Monday about 9 p.m. at the Pink Pony, where police said he is a frequent customer.

Female workers there like to hang around Whittaker because of his generous tips, according to Kanawha County Magistrate Court filings. Whittaker won the largest Powerball jackpot in history on Christmas Day last year.

Whittaker reportedly left the Pink Pony about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, then returned two hours later, parking his SUV directly in front of the door and leaving it running.

It was during that stay inside the club that Whittaker realized he needed more money. Arnold accompanied him back to his vehicle, where she allegedly saw his money.

“Someone should rob him,” Arnold was heard to say, according to court filings.

A short time later, she allegedly prepared him a drink and poured the contents of two blue capsules into the glass. Whittaker soon was unconscious.

“He was set up,” Kanawha County Chief Deputy Phil Morris said Thursday. Morris said police have not yet identified what was in the pills.

After Whittaker awoke, Morris said, workers served him food and coffee before he left the club.

Tapes recorded at the county’s 911 center show Whittaker was groggy and telling authorities he had lost much more money than he actually had, Morris said. A bartender at the club told police that Whittaker was not drunk inside the bar.

A club employee who was outside the bar told police that he saw Caplinger walking away from Whittaker’s SUV.

The witness, Robert Smith, told police that Caplinger offered him a cut of the money, but he declined the offer and left. Other Pink Pony employees said they also were told about the theft and to stick to one story when police asked.

Caplinger and Arnold were released Thursday on $10,000 bond each. The Nitro couple was placed on home confinement, told to stay away from Whittaker and ordered not to work in any adult-entertainment establishment.

Each faces up to 18 years in prison, if convicted.

Morris advised people to stay away from the club because of the employees’ actions. Sheriff’s officials said they will notify the state Alcohol Beverage Control Administration about the incident.

“I would certainly hope they can shut them down,” Morris said.

Officials with Galardi South Enterprises, the club’s owner, said they regretted the incident but said club patrons would be safe.

Suzanne Coe, a lawyer for Galardi, called the robbery attempt a “lamebrain idea” hatched only by Caplinger and Arnold.

“There are no people more repulsed than we are,” Coe said. “Apparently [Arnold’s] eyes went google after seeing that much money in the briefcase.”

http://wvgazette.com/section/News/2003080719

[Wolfie]

Somebody slipped him a Mickey while he was trying to slip her his...uh, nevermind.

[csvset]

TV reporters question Misty Dawn Arnold on Thursday evening as she and her boyfriend, Jeffrey Caplinger, are taken in handcuffs to Kanawha County Magistrate Court. The two turned themselves in to face allegations that they plotted to drug and rob Powerball winner Jack Whittaker at the Pink Pony strip club in Cross Lanes.

Photographer: F. Brian Ferguson
ferguson@wvgazette.com

[WestPacSailor]

Misty Dawn Do you think that was her real name or just her 'exotic dancer stage name'? (And just what, exactly, is so exotic about these dancers?)

[csvset]

I'd bet it's her actual name. She had to become a stripper or porn film actress with a moniker like that.

Sad, cursed from birth it seems.

[skinkinthegrass]

Whittaker’s bizarre night out began Monday about 9 p.m. at the Pink Pony, where police said he is a frequent customer.///Female workers there like to hang around Whittaker because of his generous tips///Suzanne Coe, a lawyer for Galardi, called the robbery attempt a “lamebrain idea” hatched only by Caplinger and Arnold.///Officials with Galardi South Enterprises, the club’s owner, said they regretted the incident but said club patrons would be safe.

...can you say lawsuit? IMHO, With a little more $$$$..he could have just bought the place...or hired the so-called dancer, full-time...he'll need the Church after this...or more guards.

[WestPacSailor]

Just another example that proves rich does not equal smart.

[Guillermo]

A fool and his money...

It won't be long until this idiot is broke.

[sticker]

Hey at least the story didn't say Gentlemen's Club or call the strippers ladies. Those are two comments that are even funnier than 'exotic dancer'

[WestPacSailor]

...at least the story didn't say Gentlemen's Club or call the strippers ladies

LOL...one of my favorite euphamisms "Gentlemen's Club". Like they're all sitting around in leather wingback chairs smoking cigars and debating politics.

[skinkinthegrass]

Just another example that proves rich does not equal smart.

:)..I don't think He's smart...just very Lucky...120526770:1 lucky winner...and still alive. :)

[skinkinthegrass]

LOL...one of my favorite euphamisms "Gentlemen's Club". Like they're all sitting around in leather wingback chairs smoking cigars and debating politics.

or...in the Oval Office (misusing cigars)....errr, never mind. :)

[StolarStorm]

losers stealing from a loser. This powerball moron should get himself a high class mistress. She'd be cheaper than blowing money on vampires (strippers).