An auto detail shop manager who won $750,000 with a scratcher ticket purchased in Encinitas has claimed his prize, state lottery officials said Friday.
Marco Amador solved the puzzle on a $10 ticket by forming 10 complete words, and then raced to a nearby store that had a lottery verification machine.
“I scanned it and just stood there looking at the numbers,” Amador said.
He said a store employee asked if he was okay.
“I just pointed at the machine,” Amador said. “I was just kind of blank and I was looking (pale).”
Amador, who bought the ticket at Stater Bros. at 1048 N. El Camino Real, said he normally plays Mega Millions or Powerball games, but a friend convinced him to try scratchers.
He said he will eventually use the money to purchase a house.
—City News Service
