SAN ANTONIO -- A south side man who picked up and sold aluminum cans to make extra money is now a multimillionaire. Stanley Smith says he bought the winning $32 million lottery ticket Wednesday night at Thelma Food Store on Pleasanton Road.
Clerks say Smith buys tickets every day and was buying his favorite Cherry Dr Pepper Thursday morning and had no idea he'd won until employee Rick Salazar urged him to check his ticket. Salazar says Smith dug it out of his truck, and Salazar scanned it and the machine said, "WINNER!"
"It was so intense, I thought I won!" Salazar exclaimed.
"All this, is kinda...wow. I called my brother and he couldn't believe it. I called my wife and she couldn't believe it," Smith said.
He was still in disbelief Thursday night. He can now finally afford to buy new tools for his mechanic shop that he had wanted for years. He said he won't do anything extravagant with the money, but said it's a relief to not have to worry about the bills.
Salazar said Smith usually buys scratch-off tickets but had purchased a lottery ticket instead Wednesday. Employees said no one was more deserving of the win than Smith, who "could really use the money."
The store will also receive a prize for selling the winning ticket but employees didn't know how much money the store would be getting. People were flocking to the store throughout the day Thursday buying lotto tickets, hoping to strike it rich.
