PC-GUY
1
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td><big> Richard Meryhew </big></td></tr> <tr><td><small></small><small> Star Tribune </small></td></tr> <tr><td><small>Published May 28, 2005 </small></td></tr> </tbody> </table> Bryan W. Lietz says he doesn't know what came over him.
"It's not me to normally be a thief," the 40-year-old resident of Perham, Minn., said Friday.
But in the wee hours of May 12, as Lietz worked the graveyard shift at the Perham Conoco, he apparently was just that, allegedly scratching off $1,400 worth of lottery tickets without paying for them, according to a criminal complaint.
When he finished, he sat down and penned a letter of apology to his boss.
"I don't know why I bit the hand that fed me or still does," he wrote. "I truly need this job. I don't have a clue why I did this. I don't know really how it happened. But here it is. I did it."
Lietz was charged this week in Otter Tail County with state lottery fraud, a felony offense. He was released on his own recognizance and since has repaid some of what he owes.
He was fired, too.
Reached by phone Friday, Lietz declined to discuss the case in detail.
Meanwhile, **** Palubicki, owner of the Perham Conoco, said he also is at a loss to explain why Lietz, who has no record of fraud or theft, allegedly scratched off so many tickets.
Stranger still, Palubicki said, was Lietz's letter.
"Maybe he had a couple of bad hours and then realized he really screwed up ... I don't know," Palubicki said.
According to Palubicki, local police and the criminal complaint:
On May 11-12, at some point between 11 p.m., when Lietz started work, and 7 a.m., when his shift was up, several customers entered the station and bought and scratched tickets in bunches. After they left, Lietz started playing the scratch-offs, too. Along the way, he won about $700.
Never, however, did he pay for the tickets.
Palubicki speculated that Lietz might have been moved to confess to the act after a night bookkeeper, working on other business, stopped at the station several times.
"He confessed to one of my night bookkeepers," Palubicki said. "And she said 'I don't know what you're talking about.' He thought she knew. So he told her the story of what happened, and said 'I'm going to write a letter to the manager and I'm going to make it right.' "
Before his shift ended, Lietz wrote a note to Darlene Pfefferle, the store manager.
"I scratched without paying," he wrote. "This is what kills me. I'm not a stupid person. I know better. But I did it anyway. I had to know it was insanely stupid. How couldn't I?"
Lietz also wrote that he intended to pay the station for what he owed -- $1,400 in tickets and the $700 in winnings that, according to the court, belonged to the store.
"That goes without saying," he wrote. "I really wouldn't blame you if you took criminal action against me. I hope you don't, but I'd understand."
After Pfefferle found Lietz' note, she called Palubicki and he called police.
Within minutes, patrolman Michael Christopherson drove to Lietz's house.
Christopherson said that when he confronted Lietz, "he said 'I've got something for you.' "
Lietz gave the officer a bag filled with scratched-off lottery tickets.
"All losers," Christopherson said.
Christopherson said that Lietz told him that once his shift ended May 12, he took the $700 in winnings and bought more tickets at "five or six other businesses in town" in hopes of winning enough money to repay the Conoco station.
"But he lost all the money," Christopherson said.
"I think it was a spur-of-the-moment thing," Palubicki said. "He screwed up. He was between a rock and a hard place. And I think he really believed that he would probably win enough to pay it off."
Lietz's next court appearance has not been scheduled.
Meanwhile, Palubicki said Lietz delivered $1,400 to his office Friday morning as a first step to repaying some of the debt.
"It's sitting right in front of me," Palubicki said. "Fourteen 100 dollar bills."
Just incase you want to see what he looks like they did post a picture.
Bryan Lietz
"It's not me to normally be a thief," the 40-year-old resident of Perham, Minn., said Friday.
But in the wee hours of May 12, as Lietz worked the graveyard shift at the Perham Conoco, he apparently was just that, allegedly scratching off $1,400 worth of lottery tickets without paying for them, according to a criminal complaint.
When he finished, he sat down and penned a letter of apology to his boss.
"I don't know why I bit the hand that fed me or still does," he wrote. "I truly need this job. I don't have a clue why I did this. I don't know really how it happened. But here it is. I did it."
Lietz was charged this week in Otter Tail County with state lottery fraud, a felony offense. He was released on his own recognizance and since has repaid some of what he owes.
He was fired, too.
Reached by phone Friday, Lietz declined to discuss the case in detail.
Meanwhile, **** Palubicki, owner of the Perham Conoco, said he also is at a loss to explain why Lietz, who has no record of fraud or theft, allegedly scratched off so many tickets.
Stranger still, Palubicki said, was Lietz's letter.
"Maybe he had a couple of bad hours and then realized he really screwed up ... I don't know," Palubicki said.
According to Palubicki, local police and the criminal complaint:
On May 11-12, at some point between 11 p.m., when Lietz started work, and 7 a.m., when his shift was up, several customers entered the station and bought and scratched tickets in bunches. After they left, Lietz started playing the scratch-offs, too. Along the way, he won about $700.
Never, however, did he pay for the tickets.
Palubicki speculated that Lietz might have been moved to confess to the act after a night bookkeeper, working on other business, stopped at the station several times.
"He confessed to one of my night bookkeepers," Palubicki said. "And she said 'I don't know what you're talking about.' He thought she knew. So he told her the story of what happened, and said 'I'm going to write a letter to the manager and I'm going to make it right.' "
Before his shift ended, Lietz wrote a note to Darlene Pfefferle, the store manager.
"I scratched without paying," he wrote. "This is what kills me. I'm not a stupid person. I know better. But I did it anyway. I had to know it was insanely stupid. How couldn't I?"
Lietz also wrote that he intended to pay the station for what he owed -- $1,400 in tickets and the $700 in winnings that, according to the court, belonged to the store.
"That goes without saying," he wrote. "I really wouldn't blame you if you took criminal action against me. I hope you don't, but I'd understand."
After Pfefferle found Lietz' note, she called Palubicki and he called police.
Within minutes, patrolman Michael Christopherson drove to Lietz's house.
Christopherson said that when he confronted Lietz, "he said 'I've got something for you.' "
Lietz gave the officer a bag filled with scratched-off lottery tickets.
"All losers," Christopherson said.
Christopherson said that Lietz told him that once his shift ended May 12, he took the $700 in winnings and bought more tickets at "five or six other businesses in town" in hopes of winning enough money to repay the Conoco station.
"But he lost all the money," Christopherson said.
"I think it was a spur-of-the-moment thing," Palubicki said. "He screwed up. He was between a rock and a hard place. And I think he really believed that he would probably win enough to pay it off."
Lietz's next court appearance has not been scheduled.
Meanwhile, Palubicki said Lietz delivered $1,400 to his office Friday morning as a first step to repaying some of the debt.
"It's sitting right in front of me," Palubicki said. "Fourteen 100 dollar bills."
Just incase you want to see what he looks like they did post a picture.
Bryan Lietz
