The owners of a news agency that sold a lottery ticket worth $63 million were forced to close the doors and sell the business due to incessant thefts.
Tania and Kevin Parkes, who ran City News Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, east of Perth, for almost a decade closed their businesses on Saturday before new owners took over in July.
Fed up with thieves stealing items from the store, the couple made the difficult decision to sell the newsagency.
Ms Parkes told Daily Mail Australia the level of theft in the gold mining town was too much for the couple who have owned the business since 2015.
“We just couldn’t work there in those conditions,” he said.
Tania Parkes (pictured left) and her husband Kevin (pictured right) were forced to sell the City News Kalgoorlie news agency after the proud owners of the business grew tired of thieves.
She said her husband Kevin, who lost a leg 20 years ago and needs back surgery after a bad fall in December 2022, is devastated to have to close the business.
“We have postponed his surgery for our clients, but it has reached a point where it now needs to come first.”
The news agency made headlines in 2022 for selling the winning ticket from the $63 million Powerball drawing to a group of 250 locals called ‘Goldfield, Let’s Pay Our Mortgages.’
The couple say the store has been the victim of break-ins almost every day, but Mrs Parkes said she had finally had enough after an incident last month.
Mr and Mrs Parkes had decided to keep the press agency open on January 18 despite it being a sweltering day with temperatures reaching 42°C.
After the power went out the night before, they were forced to use a backup generator to power the refrigerator and keep drinks cold for customers.
The couple say an indigenous woman entered the newsagency around 8:30 a.m., grabbed a bottle of Coca-Cola and left the store without paying for it.
Mrs Parkes politely confronted the woman and asked her to pay the bill for the item before things got heated.
The couple’s press agency (pictured) made headlines in 2022 when they sold the winning $63 million Powerball ticket.
“I called her and she just turned around and said, ‘Fuck you, white motherfucker,’ and walked away.”
Mrs Parkes then said the woman lunged at her with the drink can.
“She slapped me in the face with [the can] and he grabbed me by the hair and tried to throw me to the ground.’
Mrs Parkes said the woman was holding a pair of scissors which were at the level of her throat.
The woman then ran away leaving Mrs Parkes with a bloody finger after another elderly customer helped separate the two women.
Police arrested the woman last month before she pleaded guilty to robbery, criminal damage and common assault.
However, Ms Parkes says she was disappointed that the magistrate appeared to accept the woman’s version of events after she told the court she was going to pay for the coke but was “kicked out” of the shop, perhaps due to “prejudices”.
Ms Parkes, who has an Aboriginal father, said she felt misrepresented by the magistrate’s verdict.
The business (pictured), owned by Mr and Mrs Parkes since 2015, closed its doors on Saturday and will be handed over to new owners.
“Not being able to convey our experience properly… is a very wrong system,” he said.
She said the increased police presence in the area since the incident was not enough to convince her to keep the store open.
Many businesses in the area have closed or moved to other locations due to thefts.
He uploaded a heartbreaking post on the City News Kalgoorlie Facebook page on Saturday, moments after serving his last customer.
“Last time as owners of City News Kalgoorlie…” said Mrs Parkes.
The couple will move to Perth, where their children live while Mrs Parkes cares for her husband and supports her daughter’s business.
The new owners will take over the press agency in July.
“I’ll be back for the handover and then we’ll have a big final farewell to Kalgoorlie,” Mrs Parkes said.