Trucker reached Texas before realizing he had a life-changing Virginia Lottery ticket
A truck driver was stopped in Texas when he remembered a lottery ticket he bought a thousand miles away.
Berhane Meharena bought a raffle ticket for the Virginia Lottery’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle before the new year, he told lottery officials in a Feb. 2 news release, but he didn’t check the ticket right away.
Sitting in his rig in Texas, he decided to check the winning numbers.
“I was by myself in the truck,” Meharena said in the news release. “I was screaming!”
His ticket won $1 million.
Knowing he had to get back to Virginia to claim the prize, the Arlington resident started the more than 1,000-mile drive back to the northern state, he told officials.
When he got back to Virginia he was sick, he said, and had to wait until he felt better to claim his prize.
Meharena was one of five people who won $1 million, lottery officials said.
“This was a lucky year!” Meharena said, but he doesn’t have a plan for the winnings just yet.
Arlington is about 8 miles southwest of downtown Washington, D.C.
This story was originally published February 2, 2024 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Trucker reached Texas before realizing he had a life-changing Virginia Lottery ticket."
