NC dad didn’t realize he’d won a jackpot on his lottery ticket. But his wife did.
A Charlotte dad on a pizza run for his family of four had time to kill and decided to stop along the way for a scratch-off ticket, N.C. lottery officials said Tuesday.
He’s glad he did, as his $5 Money Bags Fast Play ticket hit a jackpot, according to the lottery.
But he never realized he’d won the jackpot until he got home and his wife looked at the ticket, Eric Johnson said when he claimed his $291,249 prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Monday, according to a lottery news release.
Johnson thought he’d won a $1,000 prize before returning home with the ticket and a large supreme pie on Sunday night.
He beat odds of 1 in 240,000, according to the lottery.
“It was a shock,” Johnson told lottery officials. “When we saw what we had actually won, we both looked at each other and said, ‘Is this serious?’ She was smiling, and I was smiling.”
Johnson had time to kill after ordering the pizza, so he stopped at Earp’s Express on Brighton Park Drive in Mint Hill to play the lottery, he said.
“I was going to buy another scratch-off,” Johnson told lottery officials. “But I decided at the last minute to buy Money Bags.”
After taxes, he netted $206,060, according to the lottery.
“I always see winners and think to myself, ‘Man, they’ve got some good luck,’ ” Johnson said when he claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Monday, according to a lottery news release. “And now, you know, it was my turn for some luck!”
Johnson said he just started a towing business.
“This is going to help,” he said. “I am going to grow my business from it.”
The Fast Play jackpot rises with every ticket sold until a player scores one, according to the lottery. Players can instantly see how much they won.