A Winn-Dixie employee in Palm Beach Gardens was arrested Thursday after police said she quietly funneled more than $32,000 in scratch-off lottery tickets out of the store, cashing in a number of winners along the way. Investigators say the alleged scheme stretched over several weeks last summer and left the supermarket about $32,506 short in lottery inventory.
Investigation details
Store records and surveillance video helped unravel what police describe as an inside job involving hundreds of missing tickets. According to WPEC, investigators say the worker removed 456 individual scratch-offs and 12 full booklets, then scanned the winners, racking up about $39,128 in payouts while leaving the store roughly $32,506 in the hole.
Arrest and charges
Police arrested Essie Latrell Davis, who now faces counts of organized fraud and grand theft of more than $20,000, according to Palm Beach Gardens officers. She was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. Investigators wrote that surveillance video showed Davis taking both single tickets and entire books of tickets, WPEC reported. Police say she was confronted at the store in September 2025, walked out before questioning wrapped up, and left her cellphone behind. Detectives later seized the phone under a search warrant but reported they could not extract any data from it.
Why lottery tickets are a target
Loss-prevention specialists say scratch-off tickets are catnip for internal thieves: they can be scanned in seconds, cashed quickly, and slip through small gaps in store procedures. Industry playbooks rank lottery tickets as high-risk items and urge tighter controls at the register along with frequent audits. In an earlier case in the Palm Beach area, a supermarket worker admitted taking and scanning tickets, a scenario detailed by WPTV. Common safeguards used to clamp down on this kind of theft are outlined in guidance from Appriss Retail.
Legal outlook
If a jury convicts Davis, she would be staring at felony-level consequences under Florida law. Stealing property worth $20,000 or more but under $100,000 is treated as second-degree grand theft in the state, and running a coordinated scheme allows prosecutors to bring organized fraud charges under Florida Statutes, Ch. 812. Under the sentencing laws in Ch. 775, a second-degree felony can carry up to 15 years in prison, though any actual sentence would depend on the prosecutor, Davis' record, and the judge. Upcoming court filings in Palm Beach County are expected to spell out the next steps in the case, including a future arraignment date.
