DENVER, N.C. — Allen Boger says he’s been lucky his whole life, and what happened Saturday proves he’s right.
The Lincoln County man set out to play the lottery, but about a mile from his house, the low fuel light in his truck came on. He turned around and headed to the Lunar Mart in Denver to fill up his tank.
After getting gas, he went inside the store to buy a $20 scratch-off ticket, but that game wasn’t available. So instead, he bought a $10 million “Colossal Cash” ticket.
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“It took a couple of twists of fate for this to happen,” the car salesman told lottery officials when he collected his prize Monday in Raleigh.
Boger had the choice of taking his prize as an annuity of $500,000 a year for 20 years or as a lump sum of $6 million. He chose the lump sum and, after state and federal tax withholdings, took home $4.2 million.
He said he planned to use the money to pay off his bills and then retire and live off his savings and investments.
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