A Florida Walmart cashier allegedly swiped a winning lottery ticket worth nearly $3,000 from an elderly customer trying to collect his payout Sunday.
Tameka Hall, 40, was hit with a felony grand-theft charge after being caught on surveillance folding up the customer’s winning lottery receipt and stuffing it into her uniform pocket before walking out of the DeLand superstore, according to court documents obtained by WKMG.
Police said the victim went to Walmart in the morning to cash in his $2,700 lottery ticket and that Hall explained to him how he could claim his winnings — but then never handed over the receipt he needed to redeem it for the money.
Hours later, the customer realized he was missing the vital slip and went back to the South Woodland Boulevard store to flag the issue to management, court docs said.
The store manager reviewed security footage, which allegedly showed Hall hiding the prize-winning paper in her vest before leaving work for the day.
Police met with the suspect Monday morning at Walmart, where she told investigators she got distracted by another customer after speaking with the victim and slipped the receipt into her pocket intending to hand it to a manager, according to court records.
Authorities later found the prized receipt in Hall’s car before slapping cuffs on her.
She was also reportedly axed from the retail megastore.
Oscar Acosta, founder of LottoExpert.net, told the outlet that players should immediately secure their winning tickets by signing the back, taking photos and keeping all claim-related receipts.
“You need to protect that ticket,” Acosta stresed.
“You don’t want to lose track of that ticket.”