Denny’s Video Lottery Machine Thief Staring Down 14-Year Prison Sentence
Oregon man made matters worse for himself with alleged assault of fellow inmate
1 min
Some go to their local Denny’s looking to order a Grand Slam breakfast. And some come away from their local Denny’s looking at a lengthy sentence in the grand slammer.
Such is the case for 33-year-old Douglas Wayne Kelsey, an Oregon man who, last July, became another in a long line of offenders at the intersection between lottery play and criminal activity and is now paying the price.
It all started for Kelsey last July 28, when he was playing on a video lottery machine at the Denny’s at 12101 SE 82nd Ave. in Happy Valley, Oregon. According to court records, Kelsey, of Aloha, Oregon, spotted an employee of the restaurant emptying cash from the machines into a bag. He made a move and snatched the bag, which had $8,200 in it. As he headed for the door, he reportedly drew a semi-automatic pistol, pointed it at workers and customers and made threats before escaping with the bag of cash.
A SWAT team tracked him down at his home in Clackamas County (maybe not the smartest hiding spot) three days later and arrested him. Kelsey was charged with second- and third-degree robbery and first-degree theft and menacing.
Last Thursday, Kelsey, who entered a guilty plea, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for those crimes — but robbing the Denny’s lottery machine wasn’t his final display of bad behavior.
More crimes, before and after
While in county jail awaiting sentencing, Kelsey and two other men assaulted another inmate, according to the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office. Kelsey pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and has been slapped with a 30-month sentence for that, though it will run concurrently to the sentence for his actions at the Denny’s.
Kelsey has a lengthy criminal history, dating back to a conviction for assault in 2011 when he was a teenager. He had another assault conviction in 2013, plus a conviction in 2023 for fleeing a police officer. On top of all that, Kelsey was charged with harassment for punching a man last July (separate from the Denny’s incident that month), but that case was dismissed as part of his plea deal.
