California thieves drag off a $20K lottery machine

It’s not every day that thieves make off with an entire lottery machine, but that’s exactly what police in California are investigating. The unusual heist left a busted machine, unanswered questions, and possibly a group of crooks far less lucky than they expected.

Police searching for suspects

Around 7:00 a.m. PST on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, police said they found a stolen California Lottery machine cracked open with unscratched tickets. The machine was found near Caruthers and Bethel in Fresno County, California.

Authorities said they are now searching for the suspects.

Investigators said the machine was initially taken from Delano before being found in Fresno County. According to officials, the machine is valued at $20,000 and was stolen from State Market on Cecil and Kensington in Delano around 2:00 a.m. PST on Tuesday, September 16.

‘Minimal amount of cash’

While the lottery machine was stolen, lottery officials said there were no actual tickets taken from the machine.

California State Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Beck said, “Even if they were, the lottery has a way of deactivating them remotely. I'm confident the tickets that are recovered from the field will be investigated for damage. If they have been compromised in any way, they are not playable."

The California Lottery said it’s typical to see more petty crimes when it comes to lottery tickets, not the suspects taking the entire lottery machine.

Beck said, "It is pretty rare to hear of an entire vending lottery machine taken out of a retail environment. It's heavy.”

The suspects may not have stolen any tickets from the machine, but the machines do have cash in them. Investigators have not released how much money was stolen from the machine, but state lottery officials say the thieves are probably disappointed.

According to Becker, “Those lottery machines carry a minimal amount of cash.”

While the police in Delano believe the thieves were driving a white van, they have not released a description of the suspects yet.

Big wins without stealing a machine

While the suspects above were trying to get their hands on some big money, other California Lottery players were actually buying tickets and doing just that: winning big money.

Four lucky scratch-off players recently claimed $1 million wins:

• Patrick Marrison – He won the $1 million top prize playing the Sunny Money scratchers game. He purchased the winning ticket from Lorenzo Market, located at 121 E. Grant Avenue in Winters.
• Roberto Dimarco – He won $1 million playing the Triple Red 777 scratcher game. He purchased the winning ticket from Lucky 7 Liquor, located at 12408 Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles.
• Lourdes Valdez – They won the $1 million top prize playing the 50X the Cash scratcher game. They purchased the winning ticket from Albertsons, located at 8440 E. Chapman Avenue in Orange.
• Lyumyla Mozhqua – They also won the $1 million top prize playing the 50X the Cash scratcher game. They purchased the winning ticket from CVS, located at 525 W. Capitol Expressway in San Jose.

Enjoy playing the California Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.