News writer; Opinion columnist
There's a reason why most lottery winners try to remain anonymous. The promise of fast and easy cash tends to bring out the worst in people. While winners are usually advised to hire accountants and financial advisors to protect their windfall, hiring bodyguards to protect themselves might also be wise.
While the lottery world is full of stories of scammers and con artists who try to trick winners out of their wealth, some less clever criminals will turn to pure brute force when they think there's a fortune to steal.
These are true stories of lottery winners who were physically attacked for their jackpots.
Bar crawl
Pablo Figueroa was enjoying a drink in a Portland, Oregon bar when he decided to help himself to someone else's good fortune. The sixty-one-year-old Figueroa watched the unidentified victim win $2,000 on the bar's lottery machine in August 2024 and followed him out the door when he decided to walk home with his cash.
Surveillance video shows Figueroa trailing the victim to his apartment and grabbing the security door to his building before it could close. He then followed him up to his second-floor apartment, and when the victim opened their door, Figueroa forced his way inside, tackled the man, and demanded his lottery winnings.
The victim complied and handed him the cash, but Figueroa still wasn't satisfied. Perhaps worried about being identified later, he pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed the winner at least fifteen times in the chest and face. The victim played dead to trick Figueroa into leaving.
Police responded to the scene, called medical help for the victim, and reviewed the building's security cameras. They immediately saw that while Figueroa was on tape entering the complex, there was no footage of him leaving. They initiated a search of the area and eventually found Figueroa hiding in a laundry room, covered in blood and with several hundred dollars in his pocket.
Officers discovered the knife buried in a litter box in the victim's apartment.
Isaiah Mitchell, the victim's neighbor, described the scene when police descended on their apartment complex. Mitchell recalled:
Me and my girlfriend were sleeping — of course it was like 2 a.m. or something — and she woke me up because she heard yelling, dogs barking. It turned out to be the police dog. We literally looked out of our peephole and the cops were circling around the recycling room, which is right across, and we were just like, 'Wow, this is crazy.'
Prosecutors charged Figueroa with second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree burglary, as well as unlawful use of a weapon. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Court records show that Figueroa is a career criminal who has faced charges of domestic violence, failing to report as a sex offender, and vehicle theft.
Bad neighbors
Marcelino Perez thought it was his lucky day in July 2018 when he won a cash prize from a private lottery. What he didn't know was that the day he received his money would also be his last day on earth.
Someone was watching as a courier dropped off Perez's money. Roman Rodriguez-Delgado lived just across the courtyard in the same apartment complex as Perez, and he watched as his 77-year-old neighbor accepted his prize.
The temptation for instant wealth was too much for Rodriguez-Delgado, and he decided he had to have the money for himself. The next day, police found Perez stabbed to death in his home. Police reviewed surveillance footage from the apartment and saw his neighbor enter and leave three times on the same day, changing his clothes each time.
Rodriguez-Delgado was arrested, charged with first-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison.
At his sentencing, Perez's granddaughter gave a witness impact statement:
While no sentence can ever bring him back, this court has honored his life by delivering justice in his name. We will remember him for the love he gave, the stories he told, and the kindness he showed to all.
Citizens almost arrest
While all crimes are bad, there is something particularly heinous about attacking a senior citizen. That's why it's so hard to watch the chilling video of an 83-year-old Florida woman as she attempts to fight off a mugger desperate to take her lottery winnings.
The sad event started at Buddy's Food and Lotto, an Orlando liquor store, where Ruth Monroe cashed in a winning lottery ticket worth two hundred dollars.
That small amount of money was enough for Diego Stalin Tavarez Fleury to attack her as she walked out of the store. Surveillance footage from cameras just outside the store's entrance shows Fleury grabbing Monroe as she walks to her car.
Monroe fights back, and Fleury backs off as the store's manager comes to her aid. However, Fleury refused to give up, and he attacked the woman a second time, grabbing her purse and fighting off the good Samaritan who tries to stop him.
The woman falls to the ground as she desperately clutches onto her bag, but eventually, Fleury rips it from her grasp and escapes from the manager, who tried to tackle him. Despite his escape, deputies used the footage to identify and arrest Fleury. Prosecutors charged him with several crimes, including robbery and battery on a person over 65.
Monroe described the incident to reporters:
I'm 83, I've never gotten punched. But that look on his face that he was about ready to, you know, and that's when he pulled it out of my hand and went that way.
Despite the assault, Monroe said she would not let it affect her daily life, and shortly after Fleury's arrest, she returned to Buddy's and purchased another lottery ticket.
Break the chain
Most financial advisors recommend that lottery winners use their windfall to pay down debt, invest in their retirement, or purchase things such as real estate that can grow in value. However, one Detroit, Michigan, resident decided to eschew that advice after winning $30,000 from the state lottery.
The man, known only as Jamal, spent $20,000 on a gold and diamond-encrusted necklace. Unfortunately, he would pay twice for this decision: once by missing out on the opportunity to grow his cash through investing, and again when his chain was stolen in broad daylight while he was making a purchase at his local gas station.
Once again, the tape tells the sad story and clearly shows how Jamal lost his bling. The video shows the victim standing at the counter of a gas station. While Jamal greets a friend, two men walk into the store, including one who is tall, muscular, and wearing a black tank top.
Jamal admitted he was worried about being robbed, telling reporters:
It's a thing. So I was just, like, looking around, making sure that nobody was trying to get my chain.
But as he left the store and walked to his car, the criminals, including the man in the black tank top, attacked him. Jamal tried to run back into the store, but before he could make it through the door, the men tackled him to the ground. Jamal tried to fight back, but the thugs punched and kicked him before grabbing his $20k chain off his neck.
So I ran back, tried to get back into the gas station, but they had grabbed me, tackled me down. They took off running, jumped in their car, and took off down the road.
After stealing the pricey jewelry, the men ran to a black Chevy sedan and drove off. According to the gas station owner, this is at least the second time the large man in the black tank top has robbed one of his customers, and he has footage of a similar-looking man stealing a necklace from a different customer.
Black Christmas
Craigory Burch Jr. was a young man from Georgia with a generous heart whose acts of kindness after he won a lottery jackpot helped lead to his demise.
The twenty-year-old forklift driver won $434,000 in the November 2015 Fantasy Five lottery game. After winning, Burch bought a new home for his family and Christmas gifts for several children who lived in his neighborhood.
Sadly, he only had a few months to enjoy his fortune before a night of terror destroyed his life.
Burch was enjoying a night home with his family in January 2016 when a shotgun blast destroyed his front door, and a gang of attackers flooded into his living room while he held his child. The thieves demanded money and shot him in the legs when he couldn't find his wallet.
The criminals left but returned after a few minutes and shot Burch in the head. The gang fled with just $200 and some cell phones after killing him. Jasmine Hendricks, Burch's girlfriend, described the horror of the robbery.
Hendricks recalled:
When they came in, he said, 'Don't do it, bro. Don't do it in front of my kids. Please don't do it in front of my kids and old lady. Please don't do that, bro. Please don't. He said I'll give you my bank card.
In the immediate aftermath of the killing, Burch's mother, Leslie Collins, delivered an impassioned plea to the killers:
I want them to know what they took from me. They took a part of my life away from me. My child that I carried and raised for 20 years.
Ultimately, seven people were arrested, charged with the murder of Burch, and received life sentences. According to prosecutors, it was his generosity that inspired his killers to attack him.
In a statement released by prosecutors, they claimed:
[The killers] did not appreciate that Burch had bought gifts for the children in the neighborhood and stated that they wanted to rob Burch because he was 'flexing' and 'showing off' by handing out the gifts.
A few years after his death, Georgia state legislators passed a law that allows anyone who wins more than $250,000 to remain anonymous.
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