Clayton, N.C. — A 19-year-old Clayton convenience store clerk was arrested Thursday after police said she cashed a customer's winning lottery ticket and pocketed the money.

Kathleen Patricia McClusky, of 1406 Tulip St., is charged with felony obtaining property by false pretense.

Clayton police said a customer called officers to the Kangaroo service station on U.S. Highway 70 Business West about 4 p.m. Sunday to report a theft. The 45-year-old man told officers that he bought three scratch-off tickets from the store and scratched them in the parking lot. He won $17 on one ticket and $50 on another.

The man said that, when he went back in the store to redeem his winnings, the clerk gave him $17 but told him the $50 ticket was not a winner and tossed it in the trash.

The customer left the store but returned to demand the ticket back. He then took the ticket to another store, where he was told it had already been redeemed.

Detective Brian Temple, working with the manager from the Kangaroo and the North Carolina Lottery Commission, determined the clerk had cashed the winning ticket and pocketed the $50.

McClusky was being held in the Johnston County jail under a $15,000 secured bond.