Four people in Hampton Roads have won a total of $475,000 over the past 8 days in various Virginia Lottery games.
In Chesapeake, Michael Cleaves bought a $5 High Roller scratcher from the Wawa at 101 Hillcrest Parkway.
Cleaves told the Virginia Lottery he’d never played before but decided to a give it a shot and ended up winning $125,000!
Before he had a chance to scratch the ticket, though, he almost lost it. He set the unscratched ticket on the seat of his vehicle as he was getting settled, and a sudden gust of wind blew it away. He retrieved it under the vehicle and scratched it as he sat in the parked car. That’s when he discovered he’d won big.
Mr. Cleaves, a full-time student after 13 years in the Navy, said he has no immediate plans for his winnings.
In Hampton, Robert Shook bought a $5 Casino Nights scratcher from M&T Market at 2711 Kecoughtan Road.
Shook scratched the ticket and found he had won $150,000!
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said as he claimed his prize. “I went and showed the clerk. Then I went home and put the ticket in a safe.”
The maintenance worker said he intends to use his winnings to pay bills, but he also suggested there may be a big-screen TV in his future.
In Portsmouth, Brian Edney is a lucky man, winning a total of $125,000 from two tickets in the Cash 5 drawing on December 24th.
Edney bought a $1 ticket and a $.25 ticket and matched all five numbers on both.
This is the second time Edney has won the top prize in the Cash 5 game. He won again back in March 2012.
“It feels great to win,” he said as he claimed his latest prize. “I can’t wait for my third and fourth time!”
Edney selected the same numbers he used to win the first time: 9-11-22-25-29. He said those are family birthdays.
He bought his latest winning tickets at Big Apple Food Mart, 3921 Twin Pines Road in Portsmouth.
He said his winnings will go into savings and towards a nice vacation.
In Newport News, Salwa Antanyous won $100,000 after matching all five numbers in the Cash 5 drawing on December 20th.
She used Easy Pick and let the computer randomly select the five numbers on her ticket — 4-15-22-23-28.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said as she claimed her prize. “It took three or four hours to believe it.”
She bought her ticket at Luckies Convenience Store, 6210 Chestnut Avenue in Newport News.
She said she has no immediate plans for her winnings.
