An Arizona convenience store worker is in legal trouble after purchasing a $12.8 million lottery ticket from the store where he worked. The judge will now decide who should get the prize, as both the store and the worker claim it.A court complaint says the incident began on the evening of Nov. 24, 2025, at Circle K in Scottsdale. A customer requested a replay of the numbers for that night’s “The Pick” drawing, 12News reported. The employee on duty, Robert Gaulitza, printed $85 worth of tickets, but the customer paid only $60, leaving 25 tickets on the counter.The unsold tickets were left in the store overnight and were discovered intact the next morning, the complaint says.
After learning that his store had sold the jackpot winner, Gaulitza reportedly checked the abandoned tickets and found the winning tickets. The winning numbers were 3, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 26.Golitza then finished his shift, took off his Circle K uniform, and purchased the tickets, including the winning ticket, from another employee for $10, according to the complaint.Store management was alerted and the ticket was taken to the Circle K corporate office, where it is being held pending a court ruling on ownership.
Circle K itself does not claim the ticket but has asked the court to determine whether it or Gawlitza is the rightful owner. In its filing, the company cited a provision in the Arizona Administrative Code that states that retailers have rights to lottery tickets left unpaid by customers that remain unsold.An Arizona Lottery spokesman said he was not aware of any previous dispute of this kind involving the state’s lottery.The $12.8 million jackpot is the fourth-largest “The Pick” prize ever sold in Arizona and the largest since 2019. The customer who originally purchased the ticket has until May 23, 180 days after the drawing, to come forward and claim the prize. Arizona retailers get a 6.5 percent commission on lottery sales and an additional $10,000 incentive for selling jackpots over $1 million.
