Former clerks caught cashing stolen lottery tickets after power outage

A power outage, a bunch of stolen lottery tickets, and a trail of suspicious winnings — what sounds like the plot to the next great heist movie became a real-life case for police in Texas. Two former convenience store employees found themselves at the center of the investigation, accused of cashing in almost $5,000 worth of stolen lottery tickets.

How did they get caught? Security footage, some bad luck, and the kind of twist that proves not all gambles pay off.

Lottery ticket theft

On May 25, 2024, officers from the Belton Police Department were called to a convenience store in the 2700 block of the S IH-35 service road to investigate the theft of lottery tickets.

According to the reporting party, a power outage took place at the store between the evening of May 22 and the afternoon of May 23. During that time, someone reportedly took $4,977 worth of lottery tickets, which was a total of 280 tickets.

The investigation

During the investigation, police were able to obtain security footage from stores in Belton and Temple, which revealed two men cashing in the stolen lottery tickets.

The men were later identified as Samuel Rodriguez and Diego Juan Martinez. According to police, the two men were also identified as former employees of the convenience store from which the lottery tickets were stolen.

Arrest warrants and charges issued

Officers from the Belton Police Department issued warrants for the arrests of Rodriguez and Martinez.

Both of the men have now been arrested. Each was charged with two felony counts, including claiming lottery prize fraud greater than or equal to $200 and less than or equal to $10,000, and theft of property greater than or equal to $2,500 but less than $30,000, officials said.

The men are being held at the Bell County Jail.

New holiday games from the Texas Lottery

While the suspects above were allegedly stealing Texas Lottery scratch-off tickets, they weren’t able to get their hands on these just-released holiday scratchers.

The state lottery announced four new games, ranging in price from $1 to $10 per ticket, for the holiday season, which collectively offer total cash prizes of over $85 million. The top prizes from these new holiday games reach $250,000. With over 7 million winning tickets up for grabs, check out the four new games here:

• Holiday Gold - This $10 ticket features five seasonal scenes on a blue and gold color palette. The game offers over $42.18 million in total cash prizes, including five top prizes of $250,000.
• 25 Days of Winning - This $5 ticket gives players a fun and unique way to countdown to the holidays with 25 chances to win on every ticket. The game offers $24.9 million in total cash prizes, including five top prizes of $100,000.
• Winter Words - This $3 ticket is a holiday season favorite among Texas Lottery players. It features over $12.1 million in total cash prizes, including five top prizes of $50,000 and over 336,000 prizes ranging from $10 up to $5,000.
• Oh, Snap! - This $1 ticket has a charming, whimsical design that features delicate snowflakes and a gingerbread cookie theme in the play area. It features over $6.1 million in total cash prizes, including 50 top prizes of $500.

The Texas Lottery is also reminding the public to gift responsibly this holiday season. Anyone buying a ticket must be 18 or older and tickets must not be purchased for minors.

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