May 21 (UPI) — A North Carolina man who won a $1 million jackpot from a scratch-off lottery ticket said he wouldn’t have won the prize if the store hadn’t been sold out of his favorite ticket.
Charles Browne, of Hendersonville, told North Carolina Education Lottery officials he stopped into Norm’s Minit Mart in Hendersonville for a Red Bull and a lottery ticket, but he found the store was sold out of his favorite scratch-off.
“I will usually play Extreme Cash,” Browne said. “They were out of it, so I said let’s go with my second favorite game and that’s how I ended up with the $1 million ticket.”
Brown said he scratched off the $30 Millionaire Maker ticket in the parking out and “freaked out for a while” after uncovering the $1 million top prize.
Brown said he plans to pay off his bills and take some time to think about what to do with the rest of the money.
“I’m just going to put it in savings for a while, let myself realize I have this at my disposal, and make a logical and reasonable decision later on how best to use it,” he said.