DUNEDIN — Just call it the luck of ... North Pinellas?
Joann Roman of Dunedin is at least the third person in North Pinellas to win a large prize from the Florida Lottery in the last six months.
Her prize? A whopping $1 million.
"When I looked at my ticket, tears began to flow from my eyes," Roman, 43, said in a written statement released by the Florida Lottery. "I'm still so happy!"
Roman purchased her winning Billion Dollar Blockbuster scratch-off ticket at Blue Jay Grocery, 785 San Christopher Drive in Dunedin. She will pocket $650,000 under the one-time, lump-sum option.
A "fortunate" Roman told lottery officials that she plans to use her winnings to fulfill her longtime dream of buying her family a house.
Reached by the Tampa Bay Times on Thursday, Roman declined to reveal her occupation, but said, "I will continue working for sure."
Roman is the 44th person to win the $1 million prize since the Billion Dollar Blockbuster scratch-off game debuted in 2009, the Florida Lottery said.
Other recent North Pinellas winners:
• Jonathan Dick, 24, won the Monopoly Scratch-Off game's $1 million prize in early January. He opted for the $700,000 lump sum. Dick bought his ticket at Hess Express at 2577 Harn Blvd. in Clearwater.
•Alexandra Chaar, a 21-year-old college student from Clearwater, refused to quit waitressing at Casa Tina Mexican restaurant in Dunedin after her big win on the $1 million Monopoly Scratch-Off Game in February. Chaar purchased her ticket at Food Mart, 601 Mandalay Ave., in Clearwater Beach and chose a one-time payment of $700,000.
Florida Lottery spokeswoman Shelly Safford told the Times after Chaar's win that the agency has always had plenty of winners from the Clearwater-St. Petersburg area, saying, "Certain areas may go through peaks and valleys."
Keyonna Summers can be reached at ksummers@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4153. To write a letter to the editor, go to tampabay.com/letters.
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