NC man stops at grocery store, returns home a $2 million lottery jackpot winner
A man stopped at a grocery store in Mooresville on Lake Norman, decided to buy a ticket in a new scratch-off lottery game and scored a $2 million jackpot, North Carolina lottery officials said Thursday.
Christopher Martin of Newton became the fifth recent winner of a huge lottery prize with a ticket bought at a store at the lake.
The Catawba County man bought his winning $20 “100X the Cash” ticket at Lake Norman Grocery on River Highway (N.C. 150 West), according to a lottery news release.
He beat odds of 1 in 3.03 million, according the N.C. Education Lottery website.
Martin was the first player to win the top prize in the game, which launched on Dec. 31, officials said. Four top prizes and five $100,000 prizes remain.
Martin claimed his prize at lottery headquarters Wednesday in Raleigh.
He had the choice of taking the $2 million as an annuity of 20 payments of $100,000 a year or as a $1.2 million lump sum. He chose the lump sum, netting $849,006 after taxes.
Martin didn’t tell lottery officials what he plans to do with the money. He couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday by the Observer.
In recent months, the lottery reported these other big winners with tickets bought at stores on Lake Norman:
▪ Matthew Hehs of Mooresville said he will help his mom and local emergency responders after he landed a $100,000 prize with a 100X the Cash ticket he bought at the Harris Teeter on Peninsula Drive in Davidson. He’d stopped for a Monster energy drink, a salad and some lottery tickets before a late night of work, the Observer reported on Jan. 8.
▪ Arthur Mclean of Stanley in Gaston County decided at the last minute to run a Christmas Day errand to the Stop N Save Mart on N.C. 73 in Denver and returned home with a top Jumbo Bucks $750,000 prize.
▪ Marion Hughes of Mooresville turned out to be the mystery buyer of $1 million on a $2 Mega Millions ticket at Fast Phil’s convenience store on Brawley School Road in southern Iredell County, lottery officials said. She won $707,501 after taxes.
▪ Kenneth Stewart of Mooresville landed a $4 million jackpot with a $20 scratch-off ticket in the Ruby Red 7s game. He bought the ticket at a Food Lion on River Highway (N.C. 150) in Mooresville.
