Naughty dog helps group win Idaho lottery

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BOISE, Idaho, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A Utah man said his dog locked him out of his truck, causing him to purchase a group's winning Idaho lottery ticket at the store where he was stuck.

Steve Hughes bought the winning Powerball ticket on behalf of a group of 34 workers from the HVAC Shop at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, which Friday became the largest group to share a $1 million prize from Idaho's lottery, headquartered in Boise, KIVI-TV, Boise, reported.

The Pilot Travel Center in McCammon, Idaho sold the winning ticket from last Saturday evening, KIVI-TV reported.

"I was headed back to I-15 and needed to get some gas. After I was done, my dog, Stella, locked me out. I was there for 45 minutes trying to get into my truck. I decided to buy my tickets there and it turned out to be the $1,000,000 winner," Hughes said.

The group, which has played regularly since February 2001, snagged the winning ticket playing a series of numbers from the tickets they first bought twelve years ago. Each member contributes $10 every few weeks and each got $19,875 out of the winnings.

Pilot Travel Centers receives $20,000 from the Idaho Lottery for selling the winning ticket.