John Hepburn of Fayetteville is counting his blessings after he said a gust of wind almost blew away his winning $489,211 Cash 5 ticket.
“Whenever I get my tickets, I put them in my car door,” Hepburn said. “I don’t check them for a few days. Sometimes they blow away when I open the car door. ”
The retired Goodyear Tire plant manager said that’s almost what happened to the Cash 5 ticket he bought for Friday’s drawing.
“I put the ticket where I always put them,” Hepburn said. “A few of my tickets blew out of the car the next day, so I figured I should probably check the other ones and see if I won anything.”
When he had a clerk scan the ticket, he heard music play.
“I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant,” Hepburn said. “But I knew I won something, so I immediately signed the back of my ticket. My son had to help me figure out how much I won. I couldn’t believe it when he told me.”
Hepburn claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $346,117. He plans to use the money to pay his mortgage and do something nice for his grandchildren.
Hepburn bought the winning Quick Pick ticket at the Raeford Quick Stop on Fulton Street in Raeford. It beat odds of one in 962,598 to win the jackpot.
Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night. Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers or through Online Play on the lottery’s website. The jackpot for tonight’s drawing is $120,000.
Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how $22.6 million in lottery funds made a difference in Cumberland County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website. https://www.nclottery.com.
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