Vacaville man arrested after allegedly stealing his roommate's $10 million lottery scratcher

Adul Saosongyang, 35, was arrested on charges of grand theft after police say he stole a lottery scratcher from his roommate valued at $10 million. Adul Saosongyang, 35, was arrested on charges of grand theft after police say he stole a lottery scratcher from his roommate valued at $10 million. Photo: Vacaville Police Department Photo: Vacaville Police Department Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Vacaville man arrested after allegedly stealing his roommate's $10 million lottery scratcher 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

A Vacaville man nearly missed out on cashing in a $10 million lottery scratcher, after police say the man's roommate stole the scratcher and attempted to cash in the prize for himself.

The Vacaville Police Department released details of the cautionary tale via Facebook, where they said a man purchased a $30 scratcher from a local grocery store on Dec. 20, "with hopes of winning a little extra cash for the holidays."

The ticket turned out to be a winner, to the tune of $10,000, or so the man believed. He was apparently excited about the win and broke the first cardinal rule of winning a large amount of money: He told his two roommates about the ticket and prize.

When attempting to cash in the ticket the next day, according to police, he was told the ticket was not a winner ... and not only that, was told the scratcher had also been altered. The man suspected one roommate had something to do with the non-winning ticket and he decided to file a report with Vacaville police.

Cut to the following day, when the roommate made his own trip to Sacramento to cash in a similar lottery ticket, police said — only to find out that instead of a $10,000 prize, the ticket was instead worth $10 million.

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An investigator with the California lottery office began working with police after discovering the ticket was potentially stolen.

Police believe that Adul Saosongyang, 35, had purchased the same type of lotto scratcher and altered it, before swapping it for the winning ticket. Saosongyang returned to the California Lottery offices Monday in Sacramento to — as he believed — collect his prize, but was instead arrested by police and charged with grand theft.

Read Dianne de Guzman's latest stories and send her news tips at ddeguzman@sfchronicle.com.

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