Wednesday, August 06, 2003

By Joedy McCreary, Associated Press Writer

CROSS LANES, W.Va. -- More than half a million dollars stolen yesterday morning from a Powerball winner's vehicle parked outside a strip club has been recovered, a sheriff's deputy said.

	Powerball winner Jack Whittaker chats with an unidentified woman in the parking lot of The Pink Pony as sheriff's deputies investigate the theft of more than half a million dollars from his SUV, background, yesterday in Cross Lanes, W.Va. (Chip Ellis, The Charleston Daily Mail via AP) Click photo for larger image.

Someone broke a window in Jack Whittaker's sport utility vehicle around 2:30 a.m. and took a briefcase containing $245,000 in cash and three blank $100,000 cashier's checks, Kanawha County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Phil Morris said.

The briefcase, cash and checks were later found behind a trash bin on the property, Morris said.

Whittaker "gambles quite a bit, and we believe that's the reason that the large sum of money was in (his) possession at this time," he told the Charleston Daily Mail.

Whittaker claimed a $113 million cash option after winning a record $314.9 million Powerball jackpot on Christmas Day. He promised to give a tenth of his winnings to churches, and has so far given away at least $3 million, the newspaper said.

Police have suspects but no arrests have been made, Morris said. A window on a second vehicle parked on the lot also was broken, he said.

Whittaker was at the club as his Lincoln Navigator was being towed away, but left without commenting. His spokesman, Bill Bissett, did not return a telephone message seeking comment.

The Pink Pony is about a mile from Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming in Nitro, but it was not clear if Whittaker had been at the greyhound track.

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