WARREN COUNTY, N.J. -- Ronnie Martin had bought three tickets the day before and was frustrated when he went up to scan them only to see the words "see clerk" on the machine.
According to lottery officials, he had no idea that the clerk was about to tell him he had just won $1 million in the New Jersey Lottery. Martin, a Long Pond, Pennsylvania native, drove to New Jersey every day for work and stopped regularly at a gas station to pick up a few lottery tickets - Mega Millions this time around.
Ronnie usually handpicked his numbers and that day was no exception. While others might pick important dates, Martin stuck with a different set of lucky numbers - the ones that came out of a fortune cookie he had bought years ago.
The difference between all those times before and this drawing: When he went up to the counter to complain about what he thought was a bug, the clerk gave him the big news - a story that he almost didn't believe.
According to New Jersey Lottery officials, Ronnie and his wife, Shirley plan to use the prize money to pay off their house and bills before putting the rest toward savings.
