Laid-off worker wins $2 million

BLUFFTON, Ind. (WANE) - A Northeast Indiana gas station, the Pak-A-Sak at 904 S. Main Street in Bluffton, just sold one of the biggest winning scratch-off tickets in Hoosier Lottery history.

Laid-off Bluffton resident Mick Brickley was in the right place at the right time to scoop up a $2 million winning ticket Monday morning at that Pak-A-Sak. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was fate. Brickley doesn't really care. What he knows is that he just won $2 million on a Hoosier Lottery scratch-off ticket.

"I just can't believe it. I always had my doubts about the Lottery. I always said, 'why won't it happen for me?'" said Brickley. "It finally paid off."

Lottery officials say Brickley's chance at the pay day was 1 in 420,000. Employees at the Pak-A-Sak are still in shock that the winning ticket was sold in their store.

"I was like, 'He won two million dollars!'," said Store Clerk Monique Eskridge. Eskridge says she had a hand in Brickley's luck, saying she egged him on to buy the $30 Casino Royale ticket.

The store has had winners in the past. Brickley will go down in history, though, according to Store Manager Michelle Storie.

"A year or so ago, we had somebody buy a $2 ticket and win $20,000, but [we've never had anything] this major," said Storie.

While there probably isn't a bad time to win two million dollars, Brickley says the money couldn't come at a better time. He was laid off from his production job at TI Automotive in June of this year. The $2 million top prize will be paid out as an annuity, in annual installments over thirty years. He received his first payment today.

Brickley claimed the second of two $2 million top prizes offered on the Hoosier Lottery scratch-off game, Casino Royale.

Brickley plans to buy a house with his winnings. Still reeling from his win, Brickley said it's too soon to know what else he might do with the money.

The Hoosier Lottery contributed information for this story.