Tennessee shop clerk is caught on CCTV celebrating stealing customers $1MILLION lottery ticket

A Tennessee shop clerk was allegedly caught connected surveillance footage celebrating aft he stole a customer's $1million lottery ticket.

Police opportunity nan fortunate victor purchased 2 winning Diamond & Gold scratch-off tickets from a Shell state position in Murfreesboro and handed them complete to Meer Patel, 23, nan shop clerk, to check.

Patel past allegedly paid nan unidentified Antioch begetter for nan $40 ticket, and told him nan different summons mislaid and threw it successful nan garbage - erstwhile successful reality it was really a $1million winner, News Channel 5 reports.

He was later seen connected CCTV celebrating astatine nan shop aft scratching disconnected nan beforehand of nan summons and confirming its value, according to nan Rutherford County Sheriff's Office.

'Store video obtained by Investigators Vic Donoho and Greg Heiman of nan Tennessee Lottery shows nan clerk allegedly taking retired nan trash, removing nan winning summons and placing it successful his pocket,' deputies report. 

It didn't return agelong for Patel to brazenly effort to rate nan ticket, officials say.

But erstwhile he tried to declare nan prize, lottery officials noticed 'red flags,' and began investigating, Det. Lt. Steve Craig told News Channel 5.

What he apparently did not recognize is that lottery officials vet each of nan awesome winners - including by checking information video from nan shop wherever nan tickets were purchased.

He was quickly apprehended, and is now successful custody astatine nan Rutherford County Adult Detention Center, wherever his bail is group astatine $100,000 arsenic he faces charges related to theft of complete $250,000.

The surveillance footage from nan shop will beryllium utilized arsenic grounds against him, and will truthful not beryllium released until trial, nan sheriff's agency told DailyMail.com.

He is now scheduled to look successful tribunal connected July 30.

Meanwhile, nan Diamond & Gold scratch-off - which retails for $20 - has been returned to its rightful owner, who was unaware of nan deceit.

He had only scratched disconnected nan beforehand barcode of nan lottery tickets, and asked Patel if they were winners, detectives explained.

'If you scratch disconnected nan beforehand barcode, it will show you if it's a victor aliases not, sloppy if you scratch everything showing really overmuch you won,' Craig said.

When detectives later called nan Antioch begetter to pass him of nan theft and to return nan ticket, he was skeptical that he had really won, the Charlotte Observer reports.  

But a detective encouraged him to declare nan money, and he is now grateful to nan authorities.

'The feel-good broadside of nan communicative is [the father] ne'er knew he was nan victor until we made interaction pinch him,' Craig said.

'That is perfectly life-changing money.'