Why $1 million Southern California lottery winner plans to buy ‘brother a new car’

One of the first things a woman who just won $1 million on a California Lottery scratcher in Corona plans to buy is a new car for her brothers and there’s a good reason.

“Once in a while I give my brother $20, and, because I know he loves to buy tickets, I tell him to buy me a ticket,” J. Garcia told Lottery officials in an interview.

Late last year, Garcia’s brother called her after a trip to Cardenas Market on Lincoln Avenue to tell her he had her ticket. She asked him to go ahead and scratch it since she didn’t want to drive to the store for another ticket if it was a small win.

“I think you won,” she described him telling her over the phone.

Garcia assumed her brother was teasing and still didn’t believe even after he sent her a picture of the winning LOTERIA™ GRANDE ticket and eventually saw it for herself.

“I went to the California Lottery office, and they told me, ‘Yeah, you won!’” Garcia said in her interview. “That’s when it hit me.”

Garcia shared that she would likely invest some of the money in an income property but first, “I’m going to buy my brother a new car.”

LOTERIA™ GRANDE is a $10 scratcher featuring two LOTERIA™ game boards with a top prize of $1 million.