A Linda, California, man who made headlines earlier this year when his $5 lotto scratch card turned out to be worth $2 million used some of his winnings to post bail on Sunday.
John Ross Jr. hit the jackpot in February and was arrested Sunday on suspicion of receiving stolen property, a felony, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department confirmed.
Deputies said Ross helped Skila Ann Hickman hide and fix a stolen Honda sedan.
Detectives determined that Ross played a role in assisting Hickman get the car behind a residence in the 1400 block of Dodson, Lt. Damon Gil said Monday.
"At some point, the vehicle stopped running and Ross was helping her with that, too," Gil said.
Ross, 30, still had enough cash to get out of jail quickly and posted bail a few hours after he was booked.
He could not be reached for comment.
Hickman, 21, of Hayward was still in custody Monday evening on felony suspicion of taking a vehicle without the owner's consent and a misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools. Her bail was set at $25,000.
A patrolling Yuba County sheriff's deputy spotted the Honda around 10 a.m. Saturday and confirmed it was reported stolen out of Yuba City, Gil said.
Ironically, Ross said in March he intended to use his winnings to buy a car.
"I've never had a car. I'm 29, and I've never had a car," Ross told a local newspaper in March. "There's something wrong there."
Ross opted to take cash payments over a 20-year period and said he hoped the money would change his life for the better. "I don't have to run around the streets no more," Ross said in March.
The Linda native said he had big plans for the money and planned to take care of those close to him.
"This is my one chance to do something," he said in March. "I've got to take advantage of it and not blow it."
Ross is set to appear July 17 for arraignment in Yuba County Superior Court.
Good lottery win, bad personal judgement. Something doesn't make sense here. He had enough money to post bail, so why risk helping someone out
by receiving stolen property? All this over a set of wheels, pretty sad.
he should move to a town where no one knows him. and STF up
LOL moron. His first felony and it's for a Honda sedan.
Just because you are charged with a crime doesn't mean that you are guilty of that crime.There could be a logical explanation why he was helping the lady with the stolen Honda.The writer of this story could be leaving out facts that are crucial to this story just to make the story more interseting.
99.9 percent of all lottery winners do one or two stupid stuff because they think they are now invisible and above the law.like collecting food stamp and thinking the food stamp cashier at the grocery store didnt see you on tv. If it barks like a dog its probably a dog and if it smells like a chicken its probably a chicken too. lol
Where do you get your facts from?I seriously doubt that 99.9% of ALL lottery winners "do stupid stuff because they think they are invincable".I think you have your facts backwards.I think that 99.9% of lottery winners collect their money and are never heard from again.
Where do you get your facts from?
That wasn't a fact. He just pulled the 99.9% off the top of his head. He probably didn't stop to think that saying 99.9% of lottery winners was almost like saying all lottery winners do stupid stuff or he might have said 9.9% instead which still wouldn't be a fact but more believable.
Maybe what he really meant to say was 99.999999999999999% Lets give him the benefit of the doubt for Pete's sake.
There are alot of details missing... and while it is easy to fill in the blanks with "dumb" since we have read about plenty of lottery winners who have crate loads of "dumb" just sitting around... it is possible that he is not as guilty as the facts lead one to assume.
One good thing is that he took the 20 year payment option (maybe he had no choice?), cuz over those 20 years mayhap he will learn how to deal with his income jump and learn how to SUSTAIN his lifestyle after the 20 years are over (250k/yr before taxes). He might need all 20 just to learn how to earn UP to his lottery win style!
When one is just making up facts or just flat out lying, to the nearest tenth of a percent is close enough.
Agreed! But what about if we were playing horseshoes?
Well am a maths genius and my facts are really from my maths calculations. You see playing the lottery is stupid so if you are 100 percent perfect most likely you won't be playing the lottery or need to play one. And if you decide to play the lottery that is .1111111 percent stupid right there. i do play the lottery and even though i may be claiming charity as my excuse but i do have some stupid fantasy that i really don't want to talk about like buying a private island in the bahamas and me being the only man allowed to be in that paradise it's stupid but all lottery players has one stupid issue just waiting to explode like a volcano just because all of you here don't want to admit it but once you win the lottery the first thing that happens to your brian is that it produces lots of chemicals that turn you into a bigger stupid spending demon and all your game plan now goes to the trash until you broke again so no escape for any lottery winner you can hide all you want but you can't escape your shadow demon. lol
What it is brah?
Wha you haffa do that, after yo win? You 'bouts had it made. Getcho seff a house, a nice caw, and in California.
Don'ts know no one off that good.
Shoo' you getcho seof a who' night cluub and just drink all day.
When you goes to cwort, you teo' the judge the who' troof now.
That's a pretty grim view of humanity.
I agree that someone's demons will likely follow them after a lotto win, so someone that is insufferable and wallows in misery as a routine course of action may very well do that after winning big, only with more money in the equation.
But it's just as likely that a lotto win would help someone snap out of it and enjoy life while it's there.
And I think that it's even more likely that most people would not automatically implode after winning. If you consider all of the thousands (or probably tens of thousands) of winners over the past few decades, even put together, all of the Jack Whitaker's of the world do not actually amount to a large number.
A hundred idiots for every thousand winners.
I'm starting to think that RJ actually nailed it with 9.9% - nice call on that!
Exactly!... when yuz at cwort, teo the judge the hol troof, and nothin but the troof, so hulp yu gud.
Zactly,
If he want t' be Greedy, jes get hisself a whole lot mo' lotto tickets.
Least you safe, and da' PoPo man don't come lookin' for yu.
Amen brother! No like the PoPo man.
He's gonna find out the hard way that he probably coulda bought that broad a car for less money than his lawyer's gonna squeeze out of him, knowing that he won the lottery.
His lawyer might even agree to let him pay his legal bill over the next 26 years.
If 5% appears too small, be thankful I don't take it all.
Even though that lyric normally applies to the other hand-in-the-pocket guy; but since almost all politicians are also lawyers, there you go.
From what it all sounds like, he was running around before doing illegal/questionable things, and because he still lives in the same place he still hangs out with all those past friends and so is likely tempted to help them out in situations. When he said he won he felt like he was headed in the wrong detection and worried that he'd end up back in prison.
Yes it's true that he may be innocent, but even if he is, he's going to be in this position because of his friends and those around him.
If I were in his position my main plan would be to get out of that town. My be a crummy position, but it's something he would need to do in order to not be tempted by friends/acquaintances who may get him back on that troubled path. I think he's set to get about $75,000 a year so I'm pretty sure he'd be able to rent an apartment for a few years and then buy a home.
All I can say is maybe he didn't know the car was stolen. I noticed he didn't waste any money bailing her out. She probably told him it was her car, and when the car broke down he took it behind the house to fix it. I know a lot of people who fix cars in the back yard or in the garage. Lol, but I could be wrong.
"I've never had a car. I'm 29, and I've never had a car," Ross told a local newspaper in March. "There's something wrong there."
Um....so did he ever buy himself a car
He's gonna find out the hard way that he should have dropped all his sorry a** acquaintances even before he claimed his lottery winnings. Those kinds of folks will hang around him making their problems his problems. If he had brought that thief a car, she would have expected him to buy the gas and insurance too.
LOL,if you've ever been to Linda,California this story really comes as no surprise. I passed through this city once many years ago when it flooded and had no inclination to ever go back. Sorry,but it's a shantytown.
I for one, would like to get a list of all these sorts of shanty towns in California, so I can avoid them,
should I ever win the lotto.
I don't wants to be caught up in a auto theft sitchiashun.
It's worse dan dat. "Linda" is the name of a girl I used to date.
bet my man learnit now. he's saying "da'ag man, what ah do? why i dont leave?"
Some folk learn slow.
True that!
Read the entire story and just like a fishing net its filled with holes and vague innuendos.
There isnt a person walking this earth that at some point hasn't lacked common sense or wisdom.
I remain split on this mans "intention" verses the criminal charge.
Just wish him the best with the life he gets to lead. May it be of positive gestures moving forward.
Well 9.9 percent is actually what makes the headline. If i ask you one question if you see a one rat in your house in the morning and you see one rat in the afternoon and you see one rat at night.How many rats do you think you have. Well for every story you hear there are alot you will never hear about so thats life lots of lotto winners have serious issues but only few talk about it untill you win you will have your chance to find out for yourself. lol
So,are you saying that if & when you win the lottery you will also be one of these losers?Or are you somehow better than the 99.9% of lottery winners that are losers in life?