Speeding motorists were in for a happy surprise on Christmas Day when police officers in a central Florida city issued scratch-off lottery tickets instead of speeding fines, Yahoo News reported.
About 30 motorists were pulled over on early Wednesday afternoon to be greeted with scratch-off lottery tickets and warnings, courtesy of the Melbourne police.
"We're just doing a little bit of a different technique," Sgt. Jamie Rocque told Florida Today.
The officers bought the lottery tickets with their own money to spread a bit of holiday cheer while ensuring public safety, Rocque said.
"It's something good to do in light of the holidays," Rocque said. "We're getting a lot of surprised looks ... people don't know what to say."
The gifts, however, came packaged with warnings or actual citations for drivers, Yahoo News reported. The lottery tickets were a one-time Christmas exception only, another Melbourne officer told ABC News.
"I can tell you right now that no one is getting lottery tickets today," Sgt. Sheridan Shelley said. "Hopefully nobody has it in their mind to speed and expect to receive a lotto ticket - that was a one-shot deal for Christmas."
Like so much of Florida, Melbourne is not without its share of random news stories.
With the entire city having an estimated population of just over 75,000 residents, a downtown area was overwhelmed when a private Halloween party drew an estimated 10,000 attendees in 2009, according to Yahoo News.
And it's not a coincidence that Melbourne shares a name with its Australian counterpart.
Back when it was just a small, emerging Florida town in the late 1800's, Melbourne was given its name in honor of its first postmaster, who had spent much of his life in Australia before coming to the U.S. Residents of the town reportedly drew straws, and the name Melbourne was officially chosen, according to Yahoo News.
