Iowa City convenience store worker stole lottery tickets to pay phone bill, police say

IOWA CITY - Police said a convenience store worker spent two hours of her shift scratching off stolen lottery tickets.

According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, on April 12, 2015, Kali M. Young was working a shift at DeliMart, 1920 Lower Muscatine Road. Police said after Young's shift ended, 61 Iowa Lottery scratch tickets were discovered to be missing.

After checking surveillance video, a manager sound that Young had taken the lottery tickets and scratched them off for two straight hours. Young did not pay for the lottery tickets, which were valued at $521. Young did, however, redeem the winning tickets for $302, police said.

Police said Young admitted to stealing the lottery tickets because she needed money to pay her phone bill. She has been arrested and faces charges of theft of a lottery ticket, a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison; and third-degree theft, an aggravated misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison.