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A gas station manager celebrated winning a $300k lottery ticket but police officers quickly learned it was stolen.
A gas station manager in Lincoln, Nebraska may have celebrated winning $300,000 from a lottery ticket a little too early. Allegedly, he stole the winning ticket and police officers caught on to his scheme.
Gas station manager steals winning $300k lottery ticket
Jeremiah Ehlers celebrated his winning lottery ticket a little early. According to police officers, he allegedly stole the scratch-off ticket. He was arrested for felony theft by deception of more than $5,000.
A deputy with the Nebraska Department of Revenue shared that the 49-year-old man claimed the winnings of a scratch ticket worth $300,000 on April 12, 2024. After taxes, he received $213,000.
According to KLKN TV, the company that owns the Greely Rapid Stop where Ehlers worked as a gas station manager decided to look into the situation. It notified the Nebraska Lottery about a potential theft.
The company showed investigators a surveillance video of Ehlers allegedly looking for the winning scratch ticket before paying for it. Tons of losing tickets were scratched until he found a winner.
He didn’t pay for the ticket until after it was validated as a winning ticket. Plus, he only paid for the winning ticket, causing the store to lose money on the losing ones. This violates state law.
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The law states that no credit shall be extended by the lottery game retailer for the purchase of a ticket. Investigators immediately froze Ehler’s bank accounts for $128,769.31.
He already spent the rest of the winnings worth $84,230 on two cars, contractor services, and payoffs to creditors. Elher was taken into custody after a warrant for his arrest was issued on January 3, 2025.
He is currently being held at the Lancaster County jail on a percentage bond of $5,000. So, he would have to pay $500 to be released. This might be difficult as his bank accounts are frozen.