SYOSSET, N.Y. — A man who had losing lottery tickets due to a store clerk's error stood accused this weekend of threatening the clerk with a box cutter on Long Island.
The clerk did not want to talk about what happened around 7 p.m. Friday at the Food Express, at 391 Jericho Turnpike in Syosset.
But police said regular customer Michael Sullo, 43, of Syosset, took out some losing lottery tickets and demanded to be reimbursed.
Sullo plays the same numbers every day, and that day, his numbers had won $250, Suffolk County police said. But the clerk had mistakenly entered the wrong number in the computer, police said.
The clerk offered to pay half, and left the store and drove out of the parking lot, police said.
Sullo allegedly was not satisfied with the offer, and police said he followed the clerk in his own car and prompted the clerk to pull over. He then pulled out a box cutter and robbed the clerk, demanding full payment, police alleged.
The clerk complied, and sent Sullo back to the store to get his money, police said. Sullo returned to the store and collected the $250, and drove away, police said.
About 25 minutes later, police caught up to Sullo and Edwards and Florence avenues in Syosset, where he was arrested, police said.
Sullo was charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. He was set to be arraigned later Saturday morning.
Fill out your slip, and check your numbers before you leave the store.
This is a very sad story . I cannot say how many times the clerk has entered my tickets the wrong way in stores I play regularly , however it's my OWN fault for not checking my receipt and making sure they are all typed in correctly . No one is perfect ! It's unfortunate but I am more than sure it's happen to many if us. I learned to not play at a store that is crazy busy so I can go back if there is a mistake or not play too close to draw time when the store is even more crazy.
I agree too close to cut off time and your not able to check the tickets has gotten me. Then when others are calling out numbers the clerks get confused. In this case if it's numbers he played daily the slip should have been filled out even if the clerk input the wrong number he wasn't entitled to anything that may have been a day he changed a digit where's the proof?
I don't see how it was the clerks fault if the customer handed him a play slip already filled out with his own picks. I would have thought it was a computer error.
I have on occasions filled out a play slip for a friend of mine who lives in Hawaii (no lottery there) and I have never verified the numbers. I simply paperclip the ticket to the play slip and leave it in the drawer.
If you're playing the same numbers every day, instead of relying on the clerk's fat fingers every day, fill out a playslip and keep using it. I sometimes use the same folded up playslip for months until it gets too crinkly and dog eared to use.
And it saves time at checkout. I hate getting beind someone who plays a bunch of numbers by verbally talking it out with the clerk. Especially Keno...really irritating: "uhhh, gimme a 5 spot with uh 40, 50, 4, 7, and uh, 3... clerk: did you say 3 or 2? uh 3...and give me another 7 spot with uh 71, 60, 45, 10, 1, and uh ...lets see, uh 3...clerk: I need one more number, give me another number..."
Michael Sullo is going to spend some time wondering why he didn't have the patience to fill out the slips or reacting in the normal way of cussing out loud when he realized the store clerk had made an expensive mistake.
Them clerks shoulda knowed better than to mess with THRIFTY's money.
THRIFTY don't play dat.
I sure I am not the only one, but it truly irks me when players verbally give pick 3 and pick 4 numbers to the clerk to input into the machine. It is one thing to ask for a quick pick since use of a play slip is not only a waste of paper but that transaction is quite quick. But I have witnessed a lottery player occupy up to 2 minutes of a clerk's time calling out those numbers and plays while the line grew longer and longer. If the guy would have filled out the play slip, this would not even be a story. It would have been his fault entirely. I applaud those stores that post signs that verbal plays will not be taken when line has formed, and if I ran a store, I would go a step further and state no verbal number picks will be taken...please use available playslips to enter your plays. However, quickpicks can be asked for all games...I just don't know of too many pick 3 and pick 4 players that play QPs...they seem to have their special numbers they like to play. If you are a pick 3 or pick 4 player, I am not "picking" on you. I am just expressing my observation of things that take place in the hood or in stores that cater to avid lottery players (a.k.a. lucky stores).
" Don't get attached to things"- Mickey Rourke. ( Iron Man 2)
Indeed
Avoid this problem entirely. Fill out your playslip. That way if there is a mistake, you have no one to blame but yourself.
He looks like the kind of human waste that would try and play at the same store again. Read his bail was 40/20k.