FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Coast woman was arrested on Sept. 15 on a grand theft charge after an investigation into more than $6,500 in stolen Florida Lottery tickets from a local gas station, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Leandra Tarpley, 31, an assistant manager at a Circle K gas station in Palm Coast, was charged after deputies said she scanned stolen lottery tickets, used payouts to buy additional scratch-off tickets, and kept the remaining cash.
Deputies originally responded to the Circle K on Aug. 26 following a report of a delayed larceny. Store management initially suspected another employee who had printed 10 lottery tickets, each valued at $660, on Aug. 9 before resigning the following day.
FCSO investigated the incident by reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing store staff. Investigators determined that the former employee had accidentally printed the tickets and placed them in a manager’s book behind the counter, on the advice of a co-worker, before quitting for unrelated reasons.
Florida Lottery records confirmed the tickets were scanned and processed at the Circle K starting Aug. 11, the day after the former employee resigned. Store surveillance video showed Tarpley scanning and processing the tickets, including winning tickets.
When questioned by detectives, Tarpley admitted to scanning tickets she found behind the counter but denied knowing they were the ones printed by the former employee. She claimed she received only free tickets, not cash, but investigators said lottery records and video footage showed her receiving cash payouts.
Detectives arrested Tarpley at the gas station, where she was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and was later released on a $2,500 bond.
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