Woman Says Friend Stole $20,000 Lottery Ticket
By SUSY SOLIS
Updated 8:25 AM CDT, Fri, Jan 23, 2009
A Fort Worth woman said a friend stole a Texas Lottery "Lucky Dice" scratch-off ticket worth $20,000.
Nancy Charlez, a mother of 4, was taking her sick 3-month-old twin girls to the doctor when her friend offered to come along to take care of her two other kids. Charlez said she gladly accepted.
At the doctor's office, Charlez said she scratched the winning ticket and discovered she had won $20,000.
"I went and put the ticket in my diaper bag. I wasn't thinking: 'Oh My God, I won $20,000.' I was thinking of my girls," she said.
Charlez said her friend then offered to take the scratch-off ticket to a convencience store nearby to verify that it was a winning ticket. She said her friend later returned empty handed.
"I asked her where the ticket was, she said a man in a white truck had taken it," Charlez said.
Charlez filed a police report.
"I am angry. I thought she was my friend," Charlez said with tears in her eyes. "I could have used that money to get myself out of debt. I owe money and God knows I am behind."
Surveillance video released from the Mini Mart where she bought the winning ticket shows Charlez handing the cashier cash and the cashier giving her the lottery tickets. She said she hopes the video will help her secure the $20,000 she says she desperately needs.
The Texas Lottery Commission said people should immediately sign the back of a winning ticket. It has put the ticket on hold so it can't be cashed until their investigation is finished. Fort Worth Police are also investigating.
First Published: Jan 22, 2009 5:33 PM CDT
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