Lottery player left ‘in disbelief’ when gas station stop turns into big prize in WA

A Washington man bought a lottery ticket that left him “in disbelief” when he saw the prize.

William Ruddock scored $75,000.

The engineer from Gold Bar went to a gas station “to make some routine purchases,” Washington’s Lottery said in a Sept. 28 news release.

He bought some lottery tickets, including a Red Hot 5s Doubler scratch game.

Then he played the game near his wife and children. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he realized he won the game’s top prize, so he had his family double-check his ticket.

Ruddock checked the ticket again on his lottery app before he was certain he had won.

Now he wants to use the money for a family vacation and toward a new home.

Gold Bar is about 45 miles northeast of Seattle.

This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Lottery player left ‘in disbelief’ when gas station stop turns into big prize in WA."

Helena Wegner

McClatchy DC

Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.