OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City police arrested a man last week trying to cash in a forged lottery ticket.
According to the police report filed Friday June 19, 45-year-old Michael Allen Shaske of Tahlequah was hoping for a $20,000 payout by turning in an altered $3 scratch-off ticket — and would not take 'no' for an answer from any of the clerks he went to that day.
But all he got was a quick trip to jail.
"Well he was doing everything he could to get arrested for this," said MSgt. Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department. "Clearly it was not a good winning ticket."
Police say first he went to the Loves in Tahlequah to try to cash in his altered ticket. And when they refused, he drove all the way to the Lottery commission office in Oklahoma City, three hours away, to try to get the teller to cash it there.
"If the clerk notices it, you know it's not a very good job," said Rollo Redburn, the Executive Director here at the Oklahoma Lottery Commission.
Redburn says they don't see a lot of forged tickets around here, but it does happen from time to time, however, never as bold and blatant as this. You see Shaske tried to alter a Lottery ticket, but he didn't do a very good job at it.
"He needed one symbol to make it a $20,000 winner," said Redburn. "So he got that from another ticket."
Police say Shaske tried to tell them he had found the altered ticket on the ground at a Wal-Mart store in Tahlequah and just wanted to see if it was a winner. But all his persistence got him was a guaranteed spot in the Oklahoma County Jail.
"There's so much security involved in these tickets," said Redburn. "Whether it's a scratcher ticket, or a Powerball ticket, or Mega Millions ticket, don't try it because you will get caught and you will go to jail! It's just not worth it."
Shaske is being held in the Oklahoma County jail on $2,000 bond.
Shaske was also arrested last August on charges of dumping garbage on public/private property.
They should give him a break. The poor guy just wants to win.
no no no We all want to win and it's unfair for someone who altered a ticket to cash in.
What an idiot!
FYI for the record my hubby is from Oklahoma I'm from Michigan what an idiot
Desperate times call for desperate measures.He probably looked at his handiwork and came to the conclusion that it would pass the smell test. After all-A man's got to eat. ..right?
Holy hell, what a moron. Not only did he try to forge a ticket (moronic action #1), he wouldn't let it go after being turned down the first time (#2), he then drives THREE HOURS (#3 and how much $$ in gas is that?) to cash the ticket at headquarters which would of course be more knowledgeable about forgeries than the store clerk he tried to scam initially (#4), then made a fuss (#5).
Maybe the mob was after him and he thought it was best to commit a crime and go to jail than to be out in the open, because the officials were right about one thing, he went out of his way to get arrested. If not, then sterilize him so he can't procreate; some genes don't need to be passed along.
Imbecile. It scares me to think I live on the same planet as someone as clueless as this hayseed...
He probably thought he wouldn't go to jail like when you get caught robbing a bank. SMH.
We don't know if he really found an altered lottery ticket at a Walmart. He may simply be a single-minded type of guy who thought the first clerk was trying to lie to him. If this, then, why he didn't simply go to a second local lottery ticket vendor to get a second opinion/claim ticket I don't know.
However, if he knew that the ticket wasn't a winner, and then proceeded to go to the Lottery Headquarters to obtain and complete the claim form among "the highest trained lottery ticket readers," then he deserves the punishment he has received.
He's not very bright and he deserves to go to jail. He got lucky the first few times when he got told no by the store clerks that they weren't going to cash his fake ticket. He should have took that as his warning that his plan wasn't going to work.
Maybe he just wanted to be in jail. Free food, free health care, free accommodation.
Perhaps this is like the OJ Simpson case and the real alterer is still out there.
LOL!
The lottery sends more people to jail then Judge Judy. He should of practiced with coupons first.