Winning the lottery is supposed to be a high point of someone’s day.
Tragedy struck after one man hit the jackpot.
And a Florida woman won the lottery but it led to the worst moment of her life.
An elderly woman is attacked after cashing in a winning lottery ticket
An elderly Florida woman was robbed of lottery winnings after walking out of a convenience store.
Ruth Monroe, 83, was over the moon after she cashed in a winning scratch-off lottery ticket for $200 at Buddy’s Food and Lotto in Orlando Florida.
She was walking back to her car with her winnings when a man attacked her.
Police are hunting for a suspect who was allegedly caught on camera violently robbing an 83-year-old woman of her lottery winnings shortly after claiming them from a convenience store, police said. https://t.co/02KIsfRvJ5 pic.twitter.com/qHtcKAs1bt
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) January 16, 2025
“His facial features were cold,” Monroe recalled. “I looked at him and he pulled [the money] out of my hand and took off.”
Video surveillance footage showed the store’s manager coming outside to intervene.
The suspect punched Monroe knocking her to the ground and wrestled the money she won from the scratch-off lottery ticket.
Monroe fought to hold onto her winnings as she was dragged away from her car by the suspect.
“I’m 83, I’ve never gotten punched. But that look on his face that he was about ready to you know, and that’s when he pulled it out of my hand and went that way,” Monroe stated.
The manager tried to detain the suspect who managed to break free and flee the scene.
Monroe only suffered minor injuries after getting punched and knocked over by the thief.
She told Fox 35 that she was not scared after getting robbed in broad daylight.
“I don’t remember hitting the ground,” Monroe said. “For me and my age, I wasn’t scared.”
Thug arrested after brazenly assaulting elderly woman for lottery ticket
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect in the video as Diego Tavarez Fleury.
Sheriff’s deputies were tipped off that Fleury was hiding in his mother’s house about half a mile from the convenience store.
His mother was trying to figure out how to help the suspect flee the country when law enforcement arrived.
Fleury tried to run from sheriff’s deputies but was arrested one street over.
He faces charges of robbery, sudden snatching, and battery on a person 65 years old or older.
Monroe was not going to be deterred, and she returned to buy another scratch-off lottery ticket from Buddy’s Food and Lotto after her attack.
A stranger who heard about what happened gave her a check for $250.
Ae Sun Lee who works at Buddy’s praised the store’s managers for taking action.
“He always helps people,” Lee said. “Not only this person. Always.”
Lee said that Monroe was a regular Florida Lottery player at the store.
“Just for fun. Bingo, scratch ticket, lotto,” Lee stated.
She had seen Fleury hanging around the store before.
“He’s troublemaker. He’s troublemaker,” Lee said. “He just hangs outside.”
Buddy’s customer Debbie Davis was not surprised the manager tried to help Monroe.
“I’m not surprised that the management did, they really do a good job around here…like I said, keeping people safe,” Davis explained. “So I never have any qualms about stopping here no matter time day or night.”
She wished there were more Good Samaritans out there.
“I’m very pleased with them here,” Davis said. “I mean, if more people took a step up and tried to help other people, wouldn’t it be a better place we lived?”
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.