Windsor Locks Police Commission Chairman Resigns After Being Arrested in Florida

The chairman of the Windsor Locks Police Commission has resigned after being arrested in Florida for allegedly trying to cash a winning lottery ticket that his niece reported stolen but he is denying any wrongdoing, according to the Hartford Courant.

Michael Royston, 49, was arrested at Florida Lottery headquarters last Thursday after trying to cash a $520,000 ticket and then notified Windsor Locks Town Clerk William Hamel via email on Friday night that he was resigning effectively immediately, according to the Courant.

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The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper reports Royston tried to claim the prize and said he received the ticket as a gift, but couldn’t provide the name of the person who had given it to him.

Royston’s niece reported the ticket stolen to the Northampton Massachusetts Police Department a few after she showed it to Royston in early July, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

The paper also reports Royston told Florida police he had found the ticket under the seat of his car.

Royston issued the following statement, via the Hartford Courant, in which he denied any wrongdoing:

“I adamantly deny any wrong doing in which I have been accused. I do not want this to [a]ffect the Commission or The Windsor Locks Police Department while I exonerate my name, therefore I have resigned from the Windsor Locks Police Commission. It has been an honor and a privilege serving the citizens of Windsor Locks.”

Read more at the Hartford Courant here.