Florida Man Arrested for Trying to Cash In Winning Lottery Ticket at Gas Station He Stole It From

(The AEGIS Alliance) – CLEARWATER, FLORIDA – A Florida man has been arrested after he tried cashing in a winning lottery ticket at the same store that he stole it and several other tickets from, police said.

The Clearwater Police Department in Florida POSTED ON FACEBOOK, saying “for most people, it’s their lucky day when they get a winning scratch-off lottery ticket.”

The man who tried cashing in the stolen ticket has been identified by authorities as 27-year-old Herbert McClellan from Clearwater, Florida. McClellan allegedly stole 13 scratch-off lotto tickets from a Speedway store on 32 Bay Esplanade. One lottery ticket was a winner for $30.

Shortly after he went back to the same store employees at the Speedway remembered seeing him before and alerted the Clearwater Police Department. McClellan was placed under arrest just after police showed up to the Speedway.

After McClellan was arrested, he was charged with petty theft and dealing in stolen property, police said.

“It’s safe to say it was not his lucky day,” the Clearwater Police Department wrote on Facebook.

Jail records from the Florida Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office indicate that, McClellan is also facing a charge of driving with a suspended license. McClellan is currently behind bars at the Pinellas County Jail with a bail amount of $12,000 and is expected to have a trial.

Jail records also show that McClellan had been arrested by the Clearwater Police several other times. McClellan was charged with misdemeanor possession of open alcohol on February 20 and was released one day later. On October 5, 2019, he had been arrested and charged with a misdemeanor by Clearwater Police Department for resisting or obstructing arrest with no violence.

A similar incident occurred in March when an Ohio man tried cashing in lottery tickets that were stolen one night prior.

The Ohio Columbus Police Department reported a suspect back in March for allegedly following a store employee behind the counter, then he pulled a gun out and demanded cash. The employee told the man he didn’t have access to more money, then he stole some scratch-off lottery tickets and fled the scene. Police said that one day after that, a man went into an unspecified store and attempted cashing in those same tickets that had been stolen.

Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.