A gas station clerk in Tennessee is being held in jail after he allegedly lied to a lottery customer and told him his scratch-off ticket was a dud, authorities said. The clerk then tried to cash the ticket himself, according to police.
It was worth $1 million.
“The feel-good side of this story is (the customer) never knew he was the winner until we made contact with him,” said Lt. Steve Craig of the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office. “That is absolutely life-changing money.”
Meet Patel, 22, is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail in the county jail, authorities said. His first scheduled court appearance is set for July 30 and he has been charged with felony theft of more than $250,000, according to online records.
Patel was working at a Shell station in Murfreesboro when a customer bought two scratch-off tickets, the sheriff's office said. One was a $40 winner, which the clerk gave to the customer, who has asked to remain anonymous
Patel said the second ticket was not a winner and placed it in the trash, authorities said.
Internal security cameras showed Patel putting the scratch-off at the top of the trash bin and going out to empty it, where he is seen putting the ticket in his pocket, Lt. Craig told WTVF-TV this week.
Surveillance footage also showed Patel celebrating inside the store and showing co-workers the winning $1 million ticket, authorities said.
"He went to the lottery commission to claim the ticket as his own, but there were red flags and they held onto the ticket," Craig told the station.
Lottery officials routinely vet big winners, which includes viewing store videos where the winning ticket was purchased, authorities said. After watching the Shell station videos, it was clear the $1 million scratch-off slip had been stolen by the clerk, Craig said.
"It's pretty obvious. Good enough to put in front of 12 jurors and they'll reach the same conclusion," Craig claimed.
And what has happened to the $1 million ticket?
Craig said the scratch-off has been returned to its rightful owner, who is a local father.
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