Yorktown, Va. – A retired firefighter from Yorktown just got super lucky!
Francis Cook Jr. sat on a winning lottery ticket for three hours before discovering it was worth $1 million, according to lottery officials. The Yorktown man bought the Cash King ticket and stuck it in his back pocket.
Cook bought the winning ticket at Happy Shopper, 3323 Hampton Highway in Yorktown.
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 30-year annuity. The store received a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket, officials say.
Cook, who served as a firefighter for both the U. S. Air Force and Hampton City, said he has no immediate plans for his winnings.
Cash King is one of dozens of Scratcher games available from the Virginia Lottery. It features prizes ranging from $10 up to $1,000,000. This is the second top prize claimed in this game, which means one million-dollar prize has yet to be claimed.
The odds of winning the top prize in this game are 1 in 1,305,600. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 3.4.
