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A man in West Virginia thought he saw the perfect opportunity to test his luck and get some winning lottery tickets. Instead, karma came back to bite him, and he now finds himself behind bars!
Two robberies in one night
It was a rough night for Mountaineer Mart, located at 621 Buckhannon Avenue in Clarksburg.
Around 4:30 a.m. ET on August 16, Joshua Eagle entered the Mountaineer Mart by going through a shattered glass door, according to the Clarksburg Police Department.
Why was the door already shattered? As it turns out, the door to the Mountaineer Mart was shattered about two hours before Eagle entered it during a separate, unrelated break-in, authorities said.
An opportunity that didn't pan out
Eagle of Salem thought this was his opportunity to try his luck at some lottery tickets. He walked into the store and stole several lottery tickets from behind the counter, officials said.
However, police said they were able to track down the Salem man, and he was arrested.
He was charged with burglary and booked into the North Central Regional Jail, according to police. His bond was set at $10,000.
Officials did not give the number or amount of lottery tickets that Eagle allegedly stole.
No stealing needed here
While Eagle tried to steal some lottery tickets in hopes of getting a big winner, these lottery players decided to do it the right — buy their tickets and hope for a winner and it paid off!
The West Virginia Lottery recently announced its big July 2024 winners, and it is quite a list. In total, the state lottery paid out $10.26 million in prizes for the month. They listed the $600 or more winners, and we see quite a variety, but there are a lot of instant tickets on the list.
For the Keno Go draw game, there were 17,627 winning tickets for the month of July. Those winning tickets totaled over $227,248 in winnings that were claimed in July.
The new Ca$h Pop game also had some good numbers for the month of July, having 4,044 winning tickets for the month. Those tickets totaled over $138,629 in winnings that were claimed in July.
While the West Virginia Lottery had over $10 million in prizes for the month of July, they didn't have any huge jackpots that took up most of the winnings. The largest claimed prize for the month came from a $5 instant ticket called Big 7s, with the winner, Florence C., taking home $35,000. The winning ticket was purchased at G-Mart #95 located in Summersville.
The biggest scratch-off winner for the month was Bonus VIP-Blowout-Club, a $30 ticket. For the month of July, there were $785,440 in prizes claimed from that ticket alone.
Coming in behind that was Untapped Fortune - Roll for the Riches, a $20 ticket from the Lottery. Players claimed $609,670 in prizes for the month of July from this ticket.
When you purchase the scratch-off tickets (and don't steal them), good things and big wins can happen!
Enjoy playing the West Virginia Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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