Broken windshield helps house cleaner win jackpot

[January 23, 2009]  CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- A broken windshield on her son's car turned out to be a lucky break for an upstate New York house cleaner.

State lottery officials introduced 55-year-old Pamela Fitch of Mechanicville as the person who won $1 million on a Big Bucks instant ticket bought on Jan. 8 at a Stewarts Shops convenience store in Saratoga County.

Fitch, a self-employed house cleaner, said her son asked to her run to the store for him because his car windshield was broken. At the store, the clerk handed Fitch a Big Bucks ticket instead of the Jumbo Bucks instant ticket she asked for.

The grandmother of two said she decided to keep the Big Bucks ticket because her horoscope said she was going to win the lottery.

She'll receive $34,075 a year after taxes for 20 years.

[Associated Press]

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