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A judge has barred the ex-girlfriend of a Charlotte area woman from cashing in on the woman's big lottery ticket win.

Jasmine Watkins said in a lawsuit that she won $25,000 a year for life with a Lucky for Life ticket she bought in May. But on the day she intended to collect her winnings at the NC Education Lottery office in Raleigh, her ex-girlfriend drove without her — and with the winning ticket — and claimed she won the prize, the lawsuit said.

On Thursday, Judge Karen Eady-Williams issued a preliminary injunction ordering the North Carolina Lottery Commission to hold the winning ticket proceeds, pending the outcome of the case, said Trey Lindley, Watkins' Charlotte-based lawyer.

Watkins bought the ticket where she works — at a 7-Eleven in the 1700 block of Windsor Square Drive in Matthews, according to her complaint filed June 6 in Mecklenburg County Civil Superior Court. But she was off-duty when she bought the ticket, according to the complaint.

Lindley said she also could have chosen a one-time cash payout of $500,000.

After Watkins learned she had won, she said her car had mechanical problems. She accepted her ex-girlfriend's offer to drive her to Raleigh to claim her prize, according to her complaint. The woman told Watkins she needed to take her daughter to daycare first, but instead drove to Raleigh with Watkins' ticket, Watkins said in the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, her ex-girlfriend signed the ticket at lottery headquarters, "fraudulently representing herself as the lawful owner."

Watkins said in the lawsuit that she obtained video footage from the 7-Eleven to prove she bought the winning ticket.

She seeks monetary damages from the woman, although the amount is not listed in the lawsuit.

Watkins also sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction preventing the NC Education Lottery from disbursing any of the winning ticket proceeds. She also requests a jury trial against her ex-girlfriend.

The preliminary injunction order has yet to be drafted or officially entered into the court record, according to Lindley.

The woman could not be reached for comment Thursday night.