Since millions of people participate in the lottery, your chances of winning are depressingly small. In fact, when we talk about things that are more likely to happen than hitting the grand prize, you have better chances of being struck by lightning or getting into a plane or car accident.
But for this 35-year-old man from California, there is no easy way to win the lottery—but to steal his roommate’s ticket.
So here’s what happened:
It was on December 20, 2018, when the lucky winner purchased a Scratchers ticket and was completely over the moon when he found out that he won $10,000. But after checking his ticket again, it turned out that he actually won $10,000,000!
The winner—who doesn’t want to be identified—went back to the local grocery store to confirm if he really hit the jackpot. In an interview with NPR, Vacaville Police Department spokesman, Lt. Chris Polen said, “He still wasn’t sure so he went back to the same grocery store to have the staff confirm it and they said, ‘Yes, you’re a winner.'”
After confirming his win, the man immediately went home to his apartment to share the good news with his roommate, Adul Saosongyang.
The next day, when it was time to collect his money, he was told that his ticket was a “losing one”. Shocked by the bad news, he reported the incident to police.
Based on the sequence of events, the police believed that his roommate Saosongyang allegedly took his winning ticket to the Lottery’s Sacramento District Office to claim the cash prize for himself.
But is it really his roommate?
The ABC News reported that the surveillance footage provided by the grocery store showed Saosongyang purchasing another lottery ticket. That’s when the police concluded that the suspect had stolen the winning ticket and swapped it out with the ticket .
On Monday, Saosongyang was summoned to the Sacramento office for his arrest. He was then booked into Sacramento County jail and transferred to the Solano County jail.
Now, he needs to appear in court on Thursday and is being held on $65,000 bail.
Although things turned out really bad for the roommate, the winner can still get his cash prize once the investigation is over.
____
Read more from InqPOP!:
These student drug dealers prove that grammar can be a ‘get-out-of-jail free card’
A Buddhist monk was arrested for indulging in drugs and hosting chemsex parties in his temple
Danish photographer shoots a ‘nude’ photo and officials are furious about it
