( 4UMF NEWS ) Clerk Error Causes $1 Million Payday:
A Massachusetts Lottery player won $1 million on a game he did not mean to play, according to news reports from the Bay State.
Richard Brown, of Taunton, south of Boston, asked for a Blue Ice 7′s ticket but a distracted gas station manager gave him a $5 Sizzlin’ 7′s instant ticket instead Monday morning. Luckily, the easy-going Brown “just rolled with it,” he told the lottery after claiming his top prize.
Brown opted for the lump-sum payout — $650,000 before taxes, roughly $430,000 after. He told the lottery he plans to use some of his winnings to re-roof his house and take a trip to San Francisco.
Brown apparently is avoiding the media.
The man responsible for the serendipitous error, Valero station manager Brian Salinas, told the Taunton Daily Gazette how it happened:
“I was a little distracted, talking on the phone, stocking the tobacco and taking customers at the same time,” Salinas said. “I realized I gave him the wrong ticket and I said, ‘I’ll switch it, I’ll put it back.’ He just said, ‘Oh, no, I’ll just take it.’ My mistake made his fortune.”
The gas station also wins: It receives a $10,000 commission for selling the ticket.
