The reported theft of Pennsylvania Lottery tickets valued at about $27,000 is being looked into by Pennsylvania State Police.

The Martin Pit Stop at 29459 Great Cove Road near Fort Littleton is the scene of an alleged theft, according to a public information release from the Commonwealth's law enforcement department.  The gas station is situated in Dublin Township, Fulton County, just off Interstate 76, the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

According to State Police, the event happened on June 1, 2025, at around six in the morning.  On Tuesday, August 12, the public information was released.

Trooper Hibner, the investigating officer at the police's McConnellsburg Troop G barracks, can be reached at 717-485-3131 if you have any information.

Very little information was made public

Information about incidents that are expected to attract a lot of public and media attention is shared by the Pennsylvania State Police.  However, details about these publications "should be considered preliminary and subject to change as additional investigative details emerge."

There aren't many details about the alleged crime.  The type and amount of the stolen Pennsylvania Lottery scratchers, the existence of a suspect or suspects, and the reason behind the police's delayed disclosure of the investigation were all left out of the announcement.

Selling scratch-offs for more than the set price given by the Pennsylvania Lottery is illegal in Pennsylvania.  Naturally, it is illegal to steal lottery tickets.

"It’s never a good idea to try to steal lottery tickets,” said Gary Miller, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Lottery. “You will get caught and you will be prosecuted.”

Theft of property worth between $2,000 and $100,000 is considered a third-degree felony in Pennsylvania.  If found guilty, a person could spend up to seven years in prison and be fined up to $15,000.

Is it possible to deactivate lottery tickets? 

The Pennsylvania Lottery can "deactivate" stolen scratch-off tickets, to put it succinctly.

"Retailers carefully control ticket inventories,” Miller explained. “When tickets are reported stolen, the lottery takes immediate steps to prevent them from being cashed. We also provide law enforcement with additional information to assist in their investigations.”

A lottery shop must scan the paper tickets in order to activate the bundle of scratchers they receive.

Retailers use the Scratch-Off Management system at their lottery terminal to activate packs of scratch-offs.  All of the plays are activated when the retailer scans the inventory barcode on the back of any ticket in the pack.

Retailers then scan a second ticket barcode to confirm that the pack has been activated.  If everything went according to plan, the terminal will show the pack as "verified" for sale.

In comparison to tickets that were legitimately sold, the Pennsylvania Lottery can identify which scratchers vanished and deactivate the missing tickets.  The lottery retailer fulfilling the play will be informed that the game has been deactivated and the prize is void if someone with a stolen, deactivated winning scratcher seeks to redeem the prize.

With sales of nearly $5 billion last year, the Pennsylvania Lottery is one of the richest in the country.  After New York ($10.5 billion), Florida ($9.4 billion), California ($9.2 billion), Texas ($8.3 billion), Massachusetts ($6.1 billion), Ohio ($5.9 billion), Georgia ($5.4 billion), and Maryland ($5.2 billion), that came in at number nine.