A 41-year-old Marion woman was arrested for allegedly stealing lottery tickets and falsifying business records while employed at a local store. Mandy Gunn was taken into custody on October 5 on a preliminary charge of theft, a Level 6 felony.
According to court documents, the store owner on South Washington Street contacted the Marion Police Department on September 22 after noticing discrepancies in lottery ticket counts during Gunn’s shifts. Although the paperwork she turned in indicated all tickets were accounted for, the actual inventory did not match.
The owner said he compared those reports with other shifts and found nearly $700 worth of lottery tickets missing, along with about $600 in cigarette cartons. An internal investigation suggested Gunn had been taking merchandise since mid-July.
Surveillance footage from September 8 reportedly showed Gunn covering the lottery ticket dispenser with a clipboard and slipping tickets into her sweatshirt pocket. The video was submitted as police evidence.
The store terminated Gunn on September 15 after confirming the findings. When questioned, she denied stealing and claimed she had purchased the tickets from nearby gas stations, insisting her paperwork reflected corrections for earlier discrepancies.
Gunn was arrested October 5 and appeared in Grant Superior Court 3 two days later before Judge Nathan D. Meeks. She was released on a $1,005 cash bond. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for January 7, 2026.
