Roderick Falls of Charlotte walked into the grocery store Tuesday night to buy some produce and walked out with a Mega Millions ticket worth $1 million.
“I figured I’d get a ticket while I was there,” Falls said. “That decision changed my life forever.”
The restaurant manager bought the $2 ticket at the Food Lion on Sunset Road West in Charlotte. It beat odds of 1 in 12.6 million to win the $1 million prize.
Falls didn’t realize what he had won until he tried to claim the prize on the ticket at a gas station Wednesday morning.
“I thought I had only won $500,” Falls said. “I don’t know why I couldn’t see the other numbers. I must have had tunnel vision. I gave the ticket to the clerk to check and he shouted, ‘Get out of here! You won a million dollars. You need to go to Raleigh.’”
Falls still didn’t believe it, so he took the ticket to the claim center in Charlotte to double check. Sure enough, he needed to come to lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He claimed his prize Thursday afternoon. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $695,010. He plans to use some of the money to pay off his house.
The ticket matched all five white balls drawn to win the $1 million prize. The jackpot for Friday’s drawing is $76 million or $46.6 million cash.
Ticket sales from draw games like Mega Millions make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 million a year for education.
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