LaTonya Copes-Booth of Salisbury raced the clock to reach Lottery headquarters in time to claim her $50,000 prize on the Home Run Riches scratch-off. |
Claims top prize with mere minutes to spare
Like an Orioles player sprinting around the bases toward home, a 35-year-old Food Lion employee raced the clock – and Eastern Shore traffic – to claim her $50,000 Home Run Riches scratch-off prize. She found home plate just in time!
LaTonya Copes-Booth traveled from her home and job in Salisbury to Baltimore, maneuvering through the start of rush hour traffic to reach the Lottery Customer Resource Center mere minutes before staff members stopped processing claims for the day. The happy player was anxious to claim the prize she discovered the previous night. LaTonya told Lottery officials she had bought three instant tickets after work from Thirsty’s State Line in Wicomico County and scratched them in the store. She knew immediately she won the top prize in the $5 game!
“I screamed, ‘Oh My God, I just won $50,000,’ ” she said. “I had to show the cashier, who didn’t believe me.” After a quick scan, the cashier confirmed the big win. LaTonya put the scratch-off away and called family and friends to share the good news before she headed home.
Once there, she told her husband about the win. He remained calm “but not me,” said Latonya. “I was all jittery, excited and nervous!”
After a sleepless night, LaTonya went to work as scheduled. When she finished her shift at 2 p.m., the winner and a co-worker rushed up the highway and over the Bay Bridge in hopes of reaching Lottery headquarters in time. They did! “I was almost too late getting there, barely after 4,” she said.
The mother of four plans to pay bills with her winnings, get a new car and take a much-needed vacation. LaTonya nabbed the second $50,000 top prize on the Home Run Riches scratch-off. There are three top prizes remaining on the scratch-off, as well as 10 $5,000 prizes and more than 450,000 prizes of $10 to $1,000.
Home Run Riches also has a second-chance contest through My Lottery Rewards. Enter your non-winning Home Run Riches scratch-offs into the contest for a chance to win Contestant of the Game honors. Find out more at baseball.mdlottery.com. The next entry deadline is May 9.
Thirsty’s also benefits from her win. The retailer located at 9534 Ocean Highway in Delmar receives a $500 bonus for selling the top-prize scratch-off in the game.