NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) – A store clerk is under investigation after allegedly cashing in a customer’s winning lottery ticket.

Elizabeth “Betty” Gelarderes of Raymond, N.H., said she bought a “Cash Winfall” ticket May 9 at Richdale Food Store. She said she brought the ticket to the store the following day, and because she hadn’t seen the winning numbers, she asked store manager Patrick Simboli, 45, to scan the ticket. He did, and told her she won $2.

However, Gelarderes, a teacher’s aide at North Andover High School, said she later saw the winning numbers on TV, and remembered they were on her ticket.

Police allege that Simboli kept the ticket and claimed the prize, which amounted to $32,000 after taxes.

North Andover police Lt. Paul Gallagher said the Massachusetts Lottery Commission confirmed that Simboli cashed in the ticket last week.

Police said Simboli will face charges on May 25 in Lawrence District Court, including larceny over $250 and receiving stolen property, felony crimes that each carry maximum sentences of five years in prison.

From his condominium Wednesday, Simboli told a reporter with the Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence that the complete story has not been told.

“You should’ve waited for everything to come out,” Simboli said. “It’s not right.”

The state Lottery Commission is investigating the case, and has indefinitely suspended the store’s lottery sales license.

AP-ES-05-19-05 0837EDT