Virginia Beach, Va. – A Virginia Beach electrician got quite the surprise after buying a lottery ticket from a Chesapeake Food Lion store.
Richard Hawkes said his initial reaction when he discovered he’d won $1 million in the Virginia Lottery’s “Casino Cash” game was, “shocked.”
An appropriate reaction from an electrician!
“I had to check it maybe three or four times,” the Virginia Beach man said.
He bought his winning ticket at Food Lion, S 415 Centerville Turnpike in Chesapeake, according to Virginia Lottery officials.
He had the choice of taking the full $1 million prize over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $537,393 before taxes. He chose the cash option. The store received a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket, NewsChannel 3 has learned.
Hawkes held on to the winning ticket for a few weeks before claiming it, in order to make financial plans. During that time, the only people he told about his ‘stroke of luck’ were his immediate family.
“They couldn’t believe it, so I showed them,” he said as he claimed his prize.
Casino Cash (game #1519) is one of dozens of Scratcher games available from the Virginia Lottery. The top prize is $2.5 million. The $1 million prize that Hawkes won is actually the game’s second prize. This is the second $1 million prize claimed in this game, which means two $1 million prizes have yet to be claimed. Two $2.5 million prizes have yet to be claimed.
