Claims prize in Jan. 5 drawing
The Powerball jackpot for the Jan. 5 drawing was a whopping $610 million when a Pasadena woman pulled over at Crossroads Exxon in Pasadena to buy gas. The buzz about the jackpot was in the air and a sign promoting the huge prize caught her eye.
The Anne Arundel County woman said she normally doesn’t play Powerball but purchased a ticket that day because of the jackpot. Little did she know her stop at the gas station located at 8101 Ritchie Highway would wind up putting a $50,000 Powerball prize in her bank account.
The mother and grandmother normally plays Pick 3 and Pick 4. She purchased those games on Jan. 5 as well as the $4 ticket for Powerball. The 60-year-old chose the quick-pick option, bought and pocketed her tickets, filled up her tank and headed home.
The lucky player didn’t watch the Powerball drawing that night nor did she immediately check her ticket. In fact, it was two days later when she scanned her ticket using the Lottery App on her phone. She was frozen in place when she saw the message that appeared.
“I thought something was wrong with the app,” said the winner. “I had to run it past another Lottery retailer to confirm it for me.” Her prize indeed was for $50,000, meaning she matched four white balls and the red Powerball.
The lucky woman had to go sit in her car to let the win sink in before riding home to make plans to cash the winning ticket. She immediately went online and scheduled an appointment to claim her windfall.
The player told Lottery officials that she plans to move and will use some of the prize money toward that expense. She also plans to pay off her car loan.
