Stolen lottery ticket leads to six felony charges and a winner empty-handed

Oct 14, 2013, 10:50 am (14 comments)

Wisconsin Lottery

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Two men and one woman from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, are being charged with theft after police said they got caught stealing and claiming a winning $10,000 lottery ticket.

The rightful winner, a 65-year-old Eau Claire man, said he is putting retirement on hold after police said his ticket was stolen by a grocery store employee who was supposed to mail it in.

After buying a winning lottery ticket at Gordy's County Market on Clairemont Avenue and soon turning it in at Mega West, the man, who didn't want to be identified, said he waited for a response that never came.

"I called the lottery office, and asked them 'What's going on? I don't get the money yet.' They tell me somebody else cashed it. I say, 'What?'" the man said.

The listed winner was 21-year-old James Shafer of Eau Claire.

According to a criminal complaint, here's how he got it: Mega West employee Kimberly Strand told police she helped the man with mailing the ticket and later noticed it hadn't been sent. She told police she grabbed it, took it home and showed it to her boyfriend, Justin Brummond, who said they should cash it in. Brummond offered his brother James Shafer $500 to claim the ticket and their grandmother took them to Madison to claim the winnings.

"Here there are so many different pieces, that we really needed to figure out what went where so that we could line up time frames and who did what," Eau Claire Police Community Relations Officer Kyle Roder said.

"This definitely appears to be planned. It's not something that could just happen. There were many moving pieces. And many people involved. This is quite rare," he said.

More than one month later, with felony charges now pending for the three involved, police say there are ways to safe guard against these types of thefts.

"You have to trust people still, but we want you to be cautious and document when did you do things, who did you meet with and what took place in those transactions?" Roder said.

But the winner, who said he is unsure whether he'll get his winnings, took it a step further.

"I learned my lesson. Don't trust nobody. It doesn't matter. You know them, you don't know them; doesn't matter. Don't trust. Money is money," the man said.

The three suspects could face more than nine years in prison if convicted.

A Mega spokesman said Strand no longer works there and their staff will work with the lottery office to ensure the winner gets his money.

The Wisconsin Lottery office didn't reply to messages left.

WEAU

Comments

RJOh's avatarRJOh

I wonder what are the rules for claiming a $10,000 prize in that state.  That's the first time I ever heard of giving a $10,000 ticket  to a store clerk to mail it in.  Nobody is saying he didn't follow the rules.

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Oct 14, 2013

I wonder what are the rules for claiming a $10,000 prize in that state.  That's the first time I ever heard of giving a $10,000 ticket  to a store clerk to mail it in.  Nobody is saying he didn't follow the rules.

Maybe he's new to playing the lottery and that is why he didn't know the different ways of claiming. I'm glad these three Kimberly Strand, Justin Brummond and James Shafer will be face responsibility for their actions

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Quote: Originally posted by maringoman on Oct 14, 2013

Maybe he's new to playing the lottery and that is why he didn't know the different ways of claiming. I'm glad these three Kimberly Strand, Justin Brummond and James Shafer will be face responsibility for their actions

I am too ..... but I still wonder what the bloomin' onion he was thinking when he thought the clerk was trustable

Jerm3462

Someone dig up the photo of this kimberly chick.
Maybe shes hot and that why the customer trusted.
Im guessing she looks like a strung out junkie though.

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Sorry SOB's why would Kimberly take the ticket home to show her boyfriend she knew from  the moment the winner showed her the ticket she was going to steal it. As for the brother they sound like the brothers from the TV show Lucky 7 getting his brother caught up in something illegal.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by maringoman on Oct 14, 2013

Maybe he's new to playing the lottery and that is why he didn't know the different ways of claiming. I'm glad these three Kimberly Strand, Justin Brummond and James Shafer will be face responsibility for their actions

I too was once new to playing the lottery but I was never so new that I couldn't read the rules on the back of the play slips.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

"I learned my lesson. Don't trust nobody. It doesn't matter. You know them, you don't know them; doesn't matter. Don't trust. Money is money," the man said.

You would think he would have learned that long before he was 65.  Some people assume people get dumber with age and can be easily fooled out of their money.

Pita Maha's avatarPita Maha

Some people are just naive, trusting old souls, reared in a different era & manner, isolated from the big, bad world out there.  Glad to see that the parasites were caught.

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by Pita Maha on Oct 14, 2013

Some people are just naive, trusting old souls, reared in a different era & manner, isolated from the big, bad world out there.  Glad to see that the parasites were caught.

Yeah.
The cops have to look no further than Kimmy. She said according to this report that she " helped" the TRUE winner in getting it mailed off. Right.
Next thing you know " she grabs the ticket" and heads home to show her Boyfriend.  As we all know, she and her boyfriend probably looked longingly at this ticket and wondered" what if".
Do you supposedly think at one point these two said " You know kim, we have looked at this ticket far too long, l think we ought to drive by a post office and mail it off or if you too tired, please mail it off on your way into work!"
It all starts with Kimberly.

billionaire2bee

Why in the world would anybody want someone else to take any kind of possession of a winning lottery ticket?? You really should treat that ticket like its a bag of cash...if you wouldnt let someone hold that bag of cash for you why would you let them hold that ticket?? Gosh people need to think....

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Oct 15, 2013

Yeah.
The cops have to look no further than Kimmy. She said according to this report that she " helped" the TRUE winner in getting it mailed off. Right.
Next thing you know " she grabs the ticket" and heads home to show her Boyfriend.  As we all know, she and her boyfriend probably looked longingly at this ticket and wondered" what if".
Do you supposedly think at one point these two said " You know kim, we have looked at this ticket far too long, l think we ought to drive by a post office and mail it off or if you too tired, please mail it off on your way into work!"
It all starts with Kimberly.

There is no honor among thieves. One would think that Kimberly would take the fall and save her accomplices since she appears to be the one who started it all. Now the three are going down. Only grandma comes out unscathed.

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by maringoman on Oct 15, 2013

There is no honor among thieves. One would think that Kimberly would take the fall and save her accomplices since she appears to be the one who started it all. Now the three are going down. Only grandma comes out unscathed.

True, but Kim is taking these others down with her because of what may have transpired after they cashed the ticket. Perhaps kimmy has a young child at home, the cops telling her to come clean because she could be sentenced up  to 15 years, by the time she gets released- her kid may be with child..remember the Ashkar boy? ( l think he got over 12 years).
She may have  thrown the crew under the bus because of the pressure.

Goteki54's avatarGoteki54

The first thing he should have done was endorse the back of the ticket. That would have ended the scam before it started. When it comes to money, it's naive to be trusting.

topmid

Quote: Originally posted by Goteki54 on Oct 15, 2013

The first thing he should have done was endorse the back of the ticket. That would have ended the scam before it started. When it comes to money, it's naive to be trusting.

that's what i was thinking. why would you not sign the back of the ticket? why would he not mail it in himself? i believe it tells you on the back exactly where to send it. plus, i don't think i would ever mail in a winning lottery ticket. it could get lost by accident or something. it sucks for him, but he really should've thought this through...

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