Additional Coverage:
- Store clerk arrested for stealing winning $1m lottery ticket (newsbreak.com)
In Tennessee, a convenience store worker was apprehended for allegedly purloining a customer’s lottery ticket worth $1 million and attempting to claim the prize for himself, as stated by the local sheriff’s office.
23-year-old Meet Patel faces a theft charge involving an amount exceeding $250,000, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office announced.
The saga unfolded when the authentic winner, who chose to remain anonymous, purchased two Diamond and Gold scratch-off tickets at a Shell gas station in Murfreesboro, each costing $20. He scratched the barcodes to reveal the results and handed them to Patel for verification.
Unaware of the tickets’ true value, the customer was misled by Patel, who claimed one ticket won $40 while discarding the other, claiming it was not a winner. In reality, that discarded ticket was a $1 million prize.
Store surveillance footage later captured Patel retrieving the winning ticket from the trash can and concealing it in his pocket, even celebrating his find privately within the store.
Suspicions arose when Patel attempted to collect the lottery prize, prompting an investigation by lottery officials who reviewed the video evidence.
Patel is now detained, with bail set at $100,000, at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center.
The legitimate ticket owner was only made aware of his winnings after being contacted by Detective Lieutenant Steve Craig. According to Craig, speaking to NewsChannel 5, this amount of money can be profoundly transformative. The winner expressed significant gratitude upon learning the truth – a win he had to be convinced was indeed legitimate.
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- Store clerk arrested for stealing winning $1m lottery ticket (newsbreak.com)