Young Sarnian Wants to Fast Forward and Win by Pocketing Scratch Lottery Tickets, Ends Up Cuffed

Lottery winnings have a certain magnetism to them that makes people strive to bag one of the generous cash payouts, but a mandatory condition is for them to first purchase the winning ticket. A man from Sarnia wanted to skip this crucial step by stealing the tickets and later cashing the winning ones among them. Sarnia Police Service located him through his accomplice soon after the crime took place.

Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has always been striving to meet the high expectations of players of legal age that are willing to try their luck and potentially claim some of the larger cash prizes that come after matching all numbers drawn. However, someone in Sarnia wanted to put an end to the waiting. Stealing a bunch of instant lottery tickets and making an attempt at cashing them was the original plan this man had in mind, but as it often happens things did not go as planned.

Criminal Wants to Cash Winning Tickets

The authorities provided extensive information describing the exact actions that took place in the area of the crime attempt. The target location for this crime was a Shell gas station located on 203, Indian Road and offering the opportunity of easy access at all times. The first step triggering a chain of events included Tad Joseph Butler, 20, making his way to the station and purchasing several scratch tickets from the cashier.

It was early in the morning around 5 a.m. and there were not many individuals on site of the gas station. As it often happens, the criminal returned to the scene of crime, only this time he was prepared for action. Around 6:40 p.m. he made his way to the gas station once again and asked the cashier for several scratch lottery tickets. This time he had no intention of paying for them, so he simply took them and ran away from the gas station.

Nobody was able to prevent him from doing so or stop him in his tracks and he successfully made his escape with the stolen lottery tickets. Once he had the chance to scratch them, he found out some of them are winning ones, making him eligible for several small sums. Since was willing to cash them and receive the money, he sought the help of another individual.

Instant Lottery Tickets Draw More and More People

Involving another individual in the crime is what further aggravates Mr. Butler’s situation. He met his acquaintance and asked him to cash the several winning tickets he had, to which the man agreed. Upon arrival at the gas station, he was cuffed for possession of stolen property. It was at that point that he tried to make it clear that it was not him who had stolen the tickets earlier.

Further questioning is what revealed the identity of the real criminal, who was later on arrested in 800 Devine Street. Charges raised against him range from theft under CA$5,000 to failing to comply with probation. Mr. Butler has had a previous offence, which meant that the recent violation of the probation could prompt subsequent law-enforcement and court action. Soon after the arrest, he was detained for a bail hearing in the upcoming days.

This type of scratch tickets are usually among the preferred type of games, due to their vivid color schemes and the attractive design they have. Often times they bring associations with games for kids which is what prompts some adults to purchase them as stocking fillers around the holiday season. Thanks to their affordable prices ranging from CA$1 to CA$30 many Canadians prefer them as a pastime activity between the regular lottery draws.