A woman from Florida has been arrested on charges of fraud, burglary, and grand theft after allegedly stealing a stack of 48 scratch-off lottery tickets from a Circle K convenience store in Polk County, Florida.
The alleged theft took place Aug. 4. But Samantha Young, 38, was only identified weeks later. The police report was revealed this week by local media.
Authorities say previously convicted criminal Young entered the store in Lakeland wearing a full face covering and reached over the counter to steal the tickets.
The cash value of the tickets was $1,400, although Young would have been hoping the winners would equate to a lot more. So much so, she apparently couldn’t resist cashing the winners in at local stores over the following hours. Which led to her arrest. The illicit winnings totaled $470.
“This is Samantha Young. She has a pretty serious criminal history, and yet continues to commit crimes. She stole a ton of scratch-off lottery tickets & began cashing them in, until we caught her. She looks so innocent, and yet, she’s not,” Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on Facebook.
The Crime
The police report said Young walked into the Circle K store on Old Kathleen Road in Lakeland on August 4 at around 9.45 p.m.
Police say store surveillance footage captured who they believe to be Young, wearing a face mask, reaching over the counter of the store and taking $1,500 worth of cash value scratch-off tickets.
She then allegedly went to collect $470 in prizes from the stack of 48 tickets at various nearby stores. All within four miles of the Circle K where the theft took place.
Florida Lottery agents used their ticket barcode system to track the missing scratch-offs and see where they had been redeemed. They then handed that information over to the local Sheriff’s office.
The Charges
Young was arrested on August 22. Police say she admitted her crime in an interview at her home. She was charged with grand theft, fraud, burglary, and violation of probation.
Those charges could add up a long stretch in prison for Young when added to her already lengthy rap sheet. Since moving to Florida 15 years ago, she has been arrested 22 times in total, court records show.
She was only released from prison in February of this year on felony probation for trafficking in stolen property.
Although she will probably face further prison time because of past offenses, Young’s illicit profit was on a small scale compared to a July 2024 scratch-off theft in Tennessee. Meet Patel was arrested in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, after allegedly stealing a winning $1 million scratch-off ticket from an unsuspecting customer.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
