LA GRANDE — A former employee of the Short Stop in La Grande is facing theft and computer crime charges after allegedly trying to claim a $25,000 Oregon Lottery prize during a sting operation by Oregon State Police.

A press release from the Oregon State Lottery didn’t name the suspect.

Oregon State Police detectives with the Lottery security section visited the Short Stop, 1709 Gekeler Lane, on Sept. 19, as part of an operation conducted by OSP and Oregon Lottery, according to a press release from the Oregon Lottery. During the operation, law enforcement officers presented a winning ticket worth $25,000 to the employee.

The employee scanned the ticket, told the detective it was not a winner and kept the ticket.

OSP then put the ticket on hold.

On Sept. 26, the clerk mailed the ticket to lottery headquarters in Salem to try to redeem the $25,000 prize, according to the press release.

OSP detectives later interviewed the clerk and issued a citation for aggravated first-degree theft and computer crime. OSP is also recommending additional charges, in Marion County, where the Lottery headquarters are located, of theft by deception and first-degree forgery.

Fred Bell, who owns the Short Stop, said in a phone interview Friday morning, Oct. 25, that the employee was fired immediately once Bell learned about the incident.

“We were blindsided,” Bell said. “We thought we had a good employee. That’s not what we’re about.”

The business has been a lottery retailer since 2005 and has no history of compliance issues, the press release states.

“While it is rare to see an individual be dishonest at one of our retailers, we have a responsibility to ensure our games are played with fairness and integrity,” said Justin Hedlund, Oregon Lottery’s assistant director of security. “These checks are one way we accomplish that.”

During the operations, known as Retail Integrity Checks, an OSP detective presents a purported winning lottery ticket to a store employee.

Undercover checks are done routinely by OSP at Oregon Lottery retailers throughout the year, with more than 170 being conducted since 2020. The La Grande incident was just the second since 2020 in which an employee was charged, said Melanie Mesaros, a spokesperson with the Oregon Lottery.

Oregon’s online court system doesn’t list any cases with aggravated theft or computer crime charges in Marion or Union counties since Sept. 26.