Clarion, Iowa, retiree Ted Knutson won $10,000 just one month after retiring from a 25-year career as a police officer, with plans to use the money on a military-themed trip.
Ted Knutson of Clarion, Iowa, has won $10,000 just one month after retiring from a 25-year career as a police officer.
Knutson won the prize playing the Iowa Lottery’s “$100,000 Mega Crossword” scratch game. He purchased his ticket at Yesway on Central Avenue in Clarion, but waited until he got home before finding out how much he had won.
“I drove around with it in my truck all day, and I finally scratched it when I got home, in my driveway,” Knutson said. “I was just kind of shocked, stunned. I couldn’t believe it. This was the most amount of money I’d ever won in my life.”
Knutson then took the ticket inside to show his wife, and the couple used the Iowa Lottery mobile app to confirm the prize.
The timing of the win was particularly notable for Knutson, who had retired in April after spending 25 years as a police officer. He said he and his wife plan to put most of the winnings towards an upcoming trip to Texas and Arizona.
The trip will allow the couple to revisit locations connected to Knutson’s 22 years of military service.
“That’ll pay our way in gas and hotel accommodations and have a little more to spend,” he said.
