Construction worker wins $5 million lottery

YONKERS, N.Y. — Construction worker Kevin Buchanan hit the gym Christmas morning, had breakfast and bought a couple of scratch-off Lotto tickets out of the machine at a Yonkers, N.Y., convenience store.

No luck, so he bought one last ticket — a $20 "Hit $5,000,000" ticket.

"I was just looking to win my money back," he said. "This was winning my money back."

Buchanan, who was named the top prize winner for the game Wednesday, was presented with a giant check from New York Lottery's Gretchen Dizer. He opted to take his winnings in a lump sum, ending up with $3.2 million after withholdings.

The lifelong Yonkers resident said he sat at a table in Yonkers Grocery and Convenience and almost fell out of his chair as he scratched off his numbers first, then matched them up with the winning numbers one by one. First 29, then 26, then 12, then 12.

"I scratched, I thought it was $500," he said. "I scratched again, I thought it was $5,000 ... I almost fell out of my chair."

Buchanan, 48, is married with three young children and he said he'd start by spending his earnings to pay some bills, and buy a Cadillac Escalade and a house. He hasn't decided where he'll be scoping out real estate but he says he's absolutely staying in Westchester County.

"I'm just ready to move on with my life," he said.

Moving on won't mean retiring early though — Buchanan said despite his life-changing jackpot he plans to continue to work. "Nothing's going to change," he said.

As for strategies for scratch-off hopefuls, the town's newest millionaire had no tips about which games to play or how to choose a coin to scratch off with.

"You just got to be at the right place at the right time," he said.