Chicago store clerk arrested after allegedly selling lotto ticket to minor

Cellphone video recorded on the Southwest Side of Chicago shows a 13-year-old buying a lottery ticket in a store.

Problem is, the law says you have to be at least 18 to play the lottery.

The young girl's father called FOX 32 and our investigation on Tuesday resulted in the arrest of the store's clerk.

"I went with my brother, he's 12 years old. And he was just looking at the tickets and then they're like, 'do you want to buy one?'" Julissa Herrera said.

13-year-old Julissa Herrera says she was surprised when the clerk at this neighborhood grocery store at 55th and Kenneth tried to sell her and her younger brother lottery tickets Monday.

When she told her dad, Jose Herrera, he sent her back in with her cellphone and a dollar bill and told her to document it.

"It's a big concern to me because I love my kids a lot and for someone to be offering my kids tickets like that... I mean you have to be an older person,” dad said.

Julissa recorded the clerk asking her which ticket she wanted. Moments later, the clerk takes her dollar bill and hands her the lottery ticket.

"I told her just to keep this ticket for us to maybe shut that store down. And for them not to be doing illegal stuff around the neighborhood,” dad said.

Jose called FOX 32 and after we met with them Tuesday morning, he sent his daughter into the store again.
Less than 40 seconds after going in, she came out clutching another scratch-off lottery ticket.

So, FOX 32 went into the store to talk to the clerk.

“Hi, Dane Placko with Fox 32... Can you tell me why you're selling lottery tickets to children?"

The woman responded, "No understand, I'm sorry."

She then put her husband on the phone who bought the store three months ago.

"She's a minor. She's 13 years old,” FOX 32 told him.

"We're not supposed to? We’re not supposed to?" the store owner responded.

FOX 32: Did you know that you have to be 18?

"No sir no,” the store owner responded.

FOX 32: You didn't know that?

"No I'm new this way,” the store owner said. "Oh, Okay, yeah. I need to keep an eye on that. Sorry."

A few minutes later, Jose called Chicago police who looked at her video and then arrested the clerk and charged her with one misdemeanor count of selling a lottery ticket to a minor.

In a statement the lottery says it: "...strongly condemns all illegal activity concerning Lottery tickets and investigates incidents appropriately... The Retailer Agreement clearly states a retailer is prohibited from selling Lottery tickets to anyone under the age of 18....The Lottery also has the right to revoke a retailer's license for selling tickets to minors."

"Little kids shouldn't be going through this. I think they should put a stop to all of this,” dad said.

If the clerk sells tickets to a minor again, she could be charged with a felony.