Employee Accused of Stealing At Least 300 Lottery Tickets

An employee at a Goose Creek gas station has been accused of stealing 300 lottery tickets over a 4-month period.

A loss prevention investigator with Petro Gas Station contacted Goose Creek Police last week regarding the incident.

The company's investigator was in search of clues to money that had been missing at the St. James Avenue location. In the process of the investigation,  he found that several books of lottery tickets were unaccounted for.

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An employee allegedly confessed to the investigator, and later to police, that she'd taken the tickets and scanned each ticket to determine the prize value. 

Losing tickets were allegedly thrown out, and winning tickets were cashed out of the till, according to an initial police report. The South Carolina Education Lottery reimburses the gas station for any amounts paid out.

The amount paid out was not disclosed in the initial report and an update on the case wasn't available Tuesday morning.

Video footage allegedly shows the employee stealing and cashing the tickets from 10 books, but the suspect allegedly confessed to stealing up to 30 books since May.

The employee was fired. Police informed her that charges were likely, but were not immediately filed. SCEL will also be conducting its own investigation and likely will pursue criminal charges, according to police.

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