(Jonathan Wilson – WAMU) Two D.C. Metro workers have been charged with stealing thousands of dollars in coins from fare machines.

Federal prosecutors allege 58-year-old Horace McDade, of Bowie, Md., and 54-year-old John V. Haile, of Woodbridge, Va., worked as a team to systematically pilfer from the transit agency’s malfunctioning fare machines.

McDade is a revenue technician and Haile is a Metro police officer who allegedly provided security for the money transports.

Prosecutors say the investigation began after a source told authorities that Haile routinely pulled up to a store in Woodbridge with bags holding $500-dollars worth of coins he would use to buy lottery tickets.

Lottery records show Haile won $32,000 in 2011, and those records only count winning tickets of $600 or more.

Metro says both men have been suspended, and Officer John Haile is in the process of being fired.