Store clerk caught on camera stealing lottery tickets, Coweta County deputies say

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - A former store clerk is in trouble with the law after deputies say she was caught on camera stealing scratch-off lottery tickets. Coweta County investigators say it is a serious crime which comes with very serious charges.

Investigators say the store clerk admitted to the crime and thought she was going to get charged with a misdemeanor, because the face value of the tickets was $300. She was surprised to learn to tamper with the lottery is a felony in Georgia.

Investigators say when a convenience store in Coweta County did an inventory of their scratch-off lottery tickets, the count came up short. So, they looked back at surveillance video which allegedly shows former store clerk Cynthia Holtzclaw tearing off lottery tickets and then taking and placing them in her purse.

Cynthia Holtzclaw  (Coweta County Sheriff's Office)

"She was seen on video concealing lottery tickets under a clipboard that she’s using to count, puts her lottery tickets into her bag and then leaves the store at the end of the store at the end of her shift," says Coweta County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Chris Stapler.

Investigators say the total value of the tickets is $300 and the theft of them is a misdemeanor, which were among her charges, but they say the 53-year-old Holtzclaw is also charged with a felony, which is attempting to defraud the lottery

(Coweta County Sheriff's Office)

"But even if you steal them, the stores, as soon as they find out that they have had any lottery theft, they contact the Georgia Lottery and notify them, at which time, any of those tickets are pretty much flagged as stolen, so if you go to use them, they don’t work," Stapler says. "Odds of being charged with a felony if you steal lottery tickets is probably going to be a lot higher than if you win anything with those tickets."

There could be more consequences for Cynthia Holtzclaw down the road. The Coweta County School District confirmed she is a full-time bus driver. The district could not comment on what will happen to her school employment as a result of the charges, but they did say in general that an arrest certainly affects anyone’s employment with the school system.