Man Arrested after Cashing Winning Lottery Ticket He Stole from Greenwich Convenience Store

Greenwich Police arrested a man on Saturday for stealing scratch-off lottery cards and cigarettes in August.

The arrest stemmed from an incident at a West Putnam Avenue gas station/convenience store that was caught on surveillance tape.

Shawn Kingsley Oliphant, 34, of 27 Northill Street #42 in Stamford turned himself in to Greenwich Police on Saturday on a warrant for Larceny 6th degree.

According to Lt. Kraig Gray, press information officer at Greenwich Police Dept, Mr. Oliphant was identified from store surveillance footage  reaching over the counter and grabbing lottery tickets and cigarettes while a store clerk was working at the back of the store.  While the counter was untended Oliphant reached over the untended counter to grab cigarettes and scratch off lottery tickets and putting them in his pockets.

Later, management at the gas station / convenience store conducted an inventory and noticed there was a discrepancy between the register and the scratch off lottery tickets, which is highly irregular.

“Those lottery tickets are numbered and the numbers taken were entered as stolen with the Connecticut Lottery Commission,” Lt. Gray explained during the Monday police briefing. “Mr. Oliphant cashed a winning ticket in Stamford.”

Detectives went to Stamford, canvassed the area, and were able to identify a suspect. From there, they were able to obtain a warrant for Mr. Olophant’s arrest.

Mr. Oliphant posted a $20,000 bond and was released. He has a court appearance scheduled on Sept. 26 in Stamford Superior Court.