A Berkeley County man is accused of using the same trick at two gas stations: get the clerk away from the counter, then grab the lottery tickets.
Connor Garrison Anderson, 23, was arrested on Oct. 15 after an investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
The bathroom distraction
According to an arrest affidavit, Anderson went to a 7-Eleven in Goose Creek on Sept. 13 and 14. On both visits, investigators say, he used the store bathroom as a way to pull the clerk away from the sales counter.
While the clerk was away attending to the bathroom, Anderson allegedly took eight scratch-off lottery tickets.
Same trick in Moncks Corner
Investigators say Anderson tried the same approach on Sept. 17 at a Spinx gas station in Moncks Corner. Once the clerk left the counter, he allegedly took 27 scratch-off tickets.
According to the affidavit, six of those tickets were later cashed in for a total of $165.
Security cameras recorded both incidents.
Charges
Anderson is charged with two counts of attempting to influence a game by coercion, tampering or deception, a charge under South Carolina’s lottery laws.
He was booked into the Hill-Finklea Detention Center in Berkeley County.
The charges are accusations, and Anderson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
This is the second lottery-related case SLED has announced in South Carolina this month. Earlier in October, a former Circle K clerk in Spartanburg County was charged with scanning and cashing tickets he never paid for.
Source: SLED; arrest affidavit, as reported by ABC News 4
