Store employee accused of stealing winning Oregon Lottery ticket

LA GRANDE, Ore. (KPTV) – A store employee has been accused of stealing a $25,000 lottery ticket, according to the Oregon Lottery.

On Thursday, September 19, detectives from the Oregon State Police Lottery Security Division gave a winning ticket to an employee of the Short Stop, located at 1709 Gekeler Lane in La Grande. The employees scanned the tickets and told them there were no winners, with one winning ticket worth $25,000.

The winning ticket was then placed on hold by Oregon Lottery staff.

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Oregon Lottery says the store employee mailed the winning ticket, along with the lottery winner claim form, on September 26 and signed the statement in an attempt to redeem the prize.

After being interviewed by detectives, the store employee, whose name has not been released, was charged with first-degree theft and computer crime. The Oregon Lottery says charges of theft by deception and first-degree forgery are recommended to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office.

According to the Oregon Lottery, Short Stop has been a lottery retailer since 2005 and has no history of compliance issues.

“While it is rare for someone to be dishonest at one of our retailers, we have a responsibility to ensure that our games are played fairly and with integrity,” said Justin Hedlund, deputy director of security for the Oregon Lottery. “These checks are one way we achieve that.”

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The Oregon Lottery says OSP routinely conducts undercover checks on retailers throughout the year, with more than 170 conducted since 2020.