Anthony Gale told NC Education Lottery (NCEL) officials he was binge-watching Season 4 of "Stranger Things" and paused it so he could make a run for snacks. While at Beaver Pond Family Fare on Roxboro Road, he also grabbed a $1 Cash 5 ticket.
The run for snacks and the $1 lottery ticket decision was a payoff of $160,543! That was the amount of the Saturday night jackpot. Gale said he check the number online Sunday and kept refreshing the page to make sure he was seeing it correctly.
"I kept checking it to make sure I was reading it right and not imagining it," he said. "It feels good! The win came at a very good time."
After federal and state tax withholdings, Gale took home $114,002.
He says he'll "breathe easier" knowing he can also pay off some medical bills.
In other NC Education Lottery news this week, a Harnett County man won $3 million after buying a scratch-off as a belated 40th birthday gift. Kevon Greenidge's $30 Fabulous Fortune ticket made him a member of the millionaires club. Greenridge said he purchased the ticket at the Short Stop on Anderson Ponds Drive in Spring Lake.
Greenridge said he at first thought it was a trick or prank but after seeing all the numbers-he thought maybe it's actually real.
"I thought I was being pranked or something," Greenidge said. "I really thought it was a trick."
What's he going to do with all that birthday money? Greenidge told lottery officials he is planning to buy a house, a car, and give some money to charity.
Other recent NC lottery winners
Friday the 13 turns out to be lucky for NC woman who won $2 million
NC grocery store worker wins big after buying Cash 5 ticket on day off
NC teen wins $100,000 lottery prize on first ticket she ever bought
Wake County man wins more than $200K in NC Lottery