The zeroes on Charlotte man’s winning NC lottery ticket left him ‘too scared to drive’
Bruce Tipton told North Carolina Education Lottery officials that he was “too scared to drive” because it took a while before he could “stop shaking.”
Tipton, 41, is the first person to win the top $200,000 prize in the lottery’s new $5 Carolina Jackpot scratch-off game, officials said.
“When I saw a lot of zeroes on there,” he told officials, “I knew I won something big.”
The construction worker from Charlotte bought the winning ticket from the Circle K on Freedom Drive, officials said.
“I was actually looking for two other tickets, but they were both sold out so I bought that one instead,” Tipton told officials.
Tipton collected his prize — $142,021 after taxes — from lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday, officials said.
The winnings will go toward helping out family members and possibly buy a new fixer-upper home, Tipton told officials.
The $5 Carolina Jackpot game debuted in June with six $200,000 prizes. Five top prizes remain, officials said.
The overall odds of winning one of 12 prizes in this game is 1 in 4.16, according to the lottery’s website.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 12:18 PM.
