A gas station manager in Lincoln, Nebraska may have celebrated winning $300,000 from a lottery ticket a little too early. Allegedly, he stole the winning ticket and police officers caught on to his scheme. 

Gas station manager steals winning $300k lottery ticket 

Jeremiah Ehlers celebrated his winning lottery ticket a little early. According to police officers, he allegedly stole the scratch-off ticket. He was arrested for felony theft by deception of more than $5,000. 

A deputy with the Nebraska Department of Revenue shared that the 49-year-old man claimed the winnings of a scratch ticket worth $300,000 on April 12, 2024. After taxes, he received $213,000. 

According to KLKN TV, the company that owns the Greely Rapid Stop where Ehlers worked as a gas station manager decided to look into the situation. It notified the Nebraska Lottery about a potential theft. 

The company showed investigators a surveillance video of Ehlers allegedly looking for the winning scratch ticket before paying for it. Tons of losing tickets were scratched until he found a winner. 

He didn’t pay for the ticket until after it was validated as a winning ticket. Plus, he only paid for the winning ticket, causing the store to lose money on the losing ones. This violates state law. 

The law states that no credit shall be extended by the lottery game retailer for the purchase of a ticket. Investigators immediately froze Ehler’s bank accounts for $128,769.31. 

He already spent the rest of the winnings worth $84,230 on two cars, contractor services, and payoffs to creditors. Elher was taken into custody after a warrant for his arrest was issued on January 3, 2025. 

He is currently being held at the Lancaster County jail on a percentage bond of $5,000. So, he would have to pay $500 to be released. This might be difficult as his bank accounts are frozen.