Thefttt

Authorities have charged the owner of a central North Carolina store after investigators say he kept a customer's winning lottery ticket worth nearly $90,000. Police say Sureshbha Ishvarbhai Patel told Kecia Parker her Carolina Cash 5 ticket was not a winner before trying to cash it himself at the North Carolina Education Lottery office in Raleigh on Feb. 8. Lottery officials became suspicious when he tried to claim the winnings from the ticket Parker bought last August at Carolina Beach. Patel is charged with felony larceny and obtaining property by false pretense. It wasn't clear if he has an attorney. His store's lottery operation has been suspended.