Having one of the family cars stolen turned out to be the luckiest break of his life.
A Brooklyn teen who was riding with his mom and uncle to claim their stolen car from an impound lot bought a lottery ticket when they stopped for gas that will pay him $1,000 a week for the rest of his life.
"We went to go pick up the car and stopped here for some gas," 18-year-old Rob Salo, 18, said this morning at Coney Island Convenience on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, where he plunked down $2 for the scratch-off ticket on May 14.
"When I scratched it, it was just ridiculous. I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was a fake ticket," said Salo, who will graduate from James Madison High School later this month.
"I had to ask them to pull over because I couldn't drive and show them something like that. It was just a Kodak moment," said Salo, whose last day of school was today.
"You're in a dream. Honestly you don't know if it's real or not in the moment. I couldn't go to sleep at all. I didn't know if I was hungry, I didn't know if I was sleepy, I didn't know anything at that point."
As a top prize winner in the Win $1,000 A Week For Life scratch-off game, the lucky Sheepshead Bay resident will get $52,000 a year — $32,398 after taxes — every year for the rest of his life.
"You keep livin', we'll keep payin', " lottery spokeswoman Christy Calicchia said, repeating the game's slogan.
Salo — who rarely plays the lottery but beat the 1 in 7,896,000 odds with his single ticket — said he plans to splurge on a new BMW and pay for his college education.
(Click to display full-size in gallery)
Thanks to w794728 for the tip.
Great story!!!
oo yeh . . i remember seeing the ticket on the post.. was posted by his budy when it happend .. blessings to him ..
I find it odd that the lottery officials claim the prize is $1,000 a week for life yet the winner is holding up a $1,000,000 check. Willing to bet that his prize is capped at 20 years. I have read elsewhere that issues have evolved from these so called "cash for life" lotteries when in fact they have implemented a ceiling cap on the prize.
what a fabulous story!
Congrats bro. Class of 2012 we got this
I thought the reason for the 1 mils check was that it is the minimum payout,
if he were to pass away before he collects 1 mil. the balance would go to his estate, no ?
The check says "pay at least One Million Dollars".
Thanks for the clarification as I didn't notice the fine print until I enlarged the pic. Hopefully the NY lottery will honor the payments for life (winner is only 18 and has a long life ahead) and not have a cap on his winnings like a few other states.
The best age to win a "win for life" contest is when you're very very young. Provided he doesn't splurge, he can treat the money like his worktime salary and never have to work.
"he can treat the money like his worktime salary and never have to work."
Sure. As long as he dies young or lives in poverty. If he gets out of the city he can live fairly comfortably right now, but it won't be long before that $52k per year is worth a lot less than it is today. If inflation runs 2.5% per year (about the average over the last 10 years) he'll be getting the equivalent of $23.6k when he's 50.
Perhaps then, he should plan his demise by the age of forty? Oh well, the candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.
It will be a shame to see him go so early, we barely knew the poor kid.
R.I.P. 
Great Story!!!!! Congrats to the winner...
From the article "said he plans to splurge on a new BMW and pay for his college education."
New BMW -- BAD idea. Pay for college -- GOOD idea. $32k a year is not enough to live a BMW lifestyle. He would need to work and the lottery will be a great supplement for life. I suspect it will not end well.
How many tickets did he buy. Never had luck with this game.