CLAYTON — Police arrested a local convenience store clerk Thursday after she allegedly told a customer his ticket wasn’t a winner, then cashed the winning ticket after the man left the store.

Kathleen Patricia McClusky, 19, of Clayton, was a clerk at the Kangaroo Station on U.S. 70. She was charged with obtaining property by false pretenses.

The $50 winnings landed her in the Johnston County jail under $15,000 bond.

The incident occurred Dec. 23 when Luis Flores-Bautista of Clayton gave McClusky two tickets. She told him the first ticket was a winner and gave him $17. She told him the second ticket wasn’t a winner and threw the ticket in trash.

After Flores-Bautista left the store, a friend suggested he retrieve the ticket. He took the ticket to another store where the clerk said the $50 winnings had already been claimed.

Clayton police worked with the store manager and the N.C. Lottery Commission to determine that McClusky had claimed the winnings.