Lottery winnings thief arrested

It seems that convenience store clerks have difficulty in learning that defrauding lottery ticket winners is a losing game, despite the number of offenders who have been caught and punished by security-wise players.

This week it was a small-time fraud that could have big-time consequences for a Clayton, North Carolina store clerk, who has been arrested for trying to steal and cash a winning ticket worth $50.

Local media reports are that Kathleen Patricia McClusky (19) has been charged with obtaining property by false pretences after she allegedly told a customer his ticket wasn’t a winner, then cashing the $50 winning ticket after the man left the store.

McClusky did not display too much Christmas spirit when Luis Flores-Bautista walked into the store on December 23 and asked her to machine-check two lottery tickets. McClusky paid out $17 on one ticket, but told the customer that his second ticket had not won anything, throwing the ticket in the trash can.

Flores-Bautista left the store and it is alleged that McClusky then paid herself the $50 the ticket had actually won.

Unfortunately for the crooked clerk, a friend of Flores-Bautista suggested he ask for his losing ticket to be returned. He then took the ticket and checked it at another store, where the theft was uncovered.

Clayton police worked with the store manager and the N.C. Lottery Commission, then charged McClusky with claiming the winnings.