A Tennessee store employee is caught on security cameras celebrating the theft of a $1 million lottery ticket from her customers

A Tennessee store employee was allegedly caught on surveillance footage celebrating after stealing a million-dollar lottery ticket from a customer.

Police say the lucky winner purchased two winning Diamond & Gold Scratch-Off tickets at a Shell gas station in Murfreesboro and handed them to store clerk Meer Patel, 23, to review.

Patel then allegedly paid the unidentified Antioch father the $40 ticket and told him the other ticket was lost and thrown away, when in fact it was a $1 million winning ticket. Channel 5 News Report.

He was later seen on CCTV celebrating in the store after scratching off the front of the ticket and confirming its value, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.

‘Store video obtained by Tennessee Lottery investigators Vic Donoho and Greg Heiman shows the employee allegedly taking out the trash, removing the winning ticket and placing it in his pocket,’ agents report.

Officials said it didn’t take long for Patel to brazenly try to cash in on the fare.

But when she tried to claim the prize, lottery officials noticed “red flags” and began investigating, Detective Lt. Steve Craig told News Channel 5.

What he apparently didn’t realize is that lottery officials investigate all major winners, even checking security video from the store where the tickets were purchased.

He was quickly arrested and is now in custody at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center, where bail was set at $100,000 while he faces charges related to the theft of more than $250,000.

Surveillance footage from the store will be used as evidence against him and will therefore not be released until trial, the sheriff’s office told DailyMail.com.

He is now scheduled to appear in court on July 30.

Meanwhile, the Diamond & Gold scratch-off ticket, which sells for $20, has been returned to its rightful owner, who was unaware of the scam.

He had simply scratched off the front barcode of the lottery tickets and asked Patel if they were winners, detectives said.

“If you scratch off the barcode on the front, it will tell you whether it’s a winner or not, regardless of whether you scratch off everything that shows how much you won,” Craig said.

When detectives later called Antioch’s father to inform him of the robbery and to return the ticket, he was skeptical that he had actually won. According to the Charlotte Observer.

But a detective encouraged him to claim the money and he is now grateful to the authorities.

“The silver lining is that (the father) never knew he was the winner until we contacted him,” Craig said.

“It’s money that absolutely changes your life.”