By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The trial date for the Winlock grocery store manager accused of stealing lottery tickets has been pushed into October as attorneys go through a crate full of evidence and reports.
Benjamin C. Macy was charged in May with two counts of second-degree theft after a video surveillance camera allegedly showed him scratching off dozens of $20 tickets at 4:30 in the morning at the Cedar Village IGA.
The 51-year-old has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.
Macy, a Winlock resident, has worked for the store for 30 years, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
Charging documents give the following account:
Raleigh Stone, the owner of the grocery store contacted Winlock Police Chief Terry Williams in early May after he found several scratch tickets in the trash can in Macy’s office.
The tickets were sequential, and not played in the normal fashion. Just the hidden code was exposed – the code used by lottery merchants to verify winners.
Williams and another officer set up a hidden camera to record the service center in the store at night for a period of about two weeks. On two nights, the camera recorded Macy open up three packets, each containing 75 $20 scratch tickets. The video showed him scratch the area to expose the hidden code necessary to see if the tickets were winners.
On May 22, the police chief contacted Macy at the store and spoke with him.
Macy allegedly said he has been doing it for about three years, although not every day. He said he sometimes pays for the tickets. He was arrested.
A trial is set for the week of Oct. 18 and expected to last three days. Macy is represented by Centralia attorney Jonathan Meyer.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter