La Grande Store Employee Charged with Undercover Stealing $25,000 Oregon Lottery Winning Ticket

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – A La Grande retail store employee is facing charges after he was caught stealing a winning lottery ticket worth $25,000 as part of a retail integrity operation conducted by Oregon State Police and the Oregon Lottery.

On Thursday, September 19th, OSP Lottery Security Detectives presented the winning ticket to an employee of the Short Stop store located at 1709 Gekeler Lane in La Grande. The employee scanned the tickets presented by the detective and reported that there were no winners, leaving a ticket valued at $25,000. After review, detectives placed the ticket in the custody of Oregon Lottery staff.

On Sept. 26, a clerk mailed a winning lottery ticket in an attempt to redeem the $25,000 prize, lottery officials said. Along with the winning ticket, the employee also mailed a lottery winner declaration form and signed the declaration.

After questioning the clerk, OSP Lottery detectives charged the man with aggravated theft and computer crime. Additional charges of theft by deception and first-degree forgery are recommended to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office.

The company has been retailing Oregon lotteries since 2005 and has had no compliance issues.

“While it is rare to see an individual engage in dishonesty at one of our retailers, we have a responsibility to ensure that our games are played with fairness and integrity,” said Justin Hedlund, assistant director of security for the Oregon Lottery. “These inspections are one way to do that.”

OSP regularly conducts undercover inspections of Oregon Lottery retailers throughout the year, with more than 170 conducted since 2020. OSP Detectives assigned to the Oregon Lottery help support the agency by ensuring fairness, integrity, security and fairness in Lottery operations. The Oregon Lottery recommends that you sign the back of your ticket to ensure you are eligible to claim any prize.

Since the Oregon Lottery began selling tickets on April 25, 1985, it has generated more than $15.5 billion for economic development, public education, outdoor schools, state parks, veterans services and watershed improvements. For more information about the Oregon Lottery, visit www.oregonlottery.org.