Local Man Hits Lotto Jackpot Disbelieving Warehouse Worker Collects $5 Million Prize

A Spokane County man whose New Year’s resolution was to spend less on lottery tickets has won a $5 million jackpot.

Daniel “Jim” King thought his eyes were fooling him when he picked up Sunday’s newspaper and saw that his Lotto ticket matched the winning numbers.

“It took a few seconds to click,” the 48-year-old warehouseman said.

King’s wife, Janet, confirmed the numbers matched. But even she did some double-checking.

She called a grocery store and the Washington State Lottery to verify the good news.

“I still thought, ‘There’s something wrong here. This can’t be,”’ she said.

On Monday, the couple picked up their initial payment of $180,000 at the lottery’s Spokane office.

The Kings have lived in the Spokane area for 30 years. He works for Safeway; she’s a business manager for a group of doctors. They have two grown children and a 12-year-old.

Jim King said he used to buy $20 worth of lottery tickets every week.

“I’d been buying too many lottery tickets, and I made a New Year’s resolution to cut down,” he said.

Saturday evening, he bought Keno and Lotto tickets at the Albertsons on South Regal. His winning number was selected randomly, by a computer.

Now that they’re instant millionaires, the Kings don’t know what they’ll do with the money.

They’ll set some of it aside for savings. She wants to travel. He wants to fix a sliding glass door and make other repairs at the Moran Prairie home they’ve shared for 20 years.

Both are overwhelmed by their good fortune.

She: “I told somebody today, ‘I’m finally sleeping with the right man,”’

He: “She married me for love. Now, she’ll have to marry me for money.”

, DataTimes