James Sikes, the owner of the alleged runaway Prius, won $55,000 in the lottery in 2006. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
INSIDE EDITION has obtained video of embattled Toyota Prius owner James Sikes trying to win the California lottery.
Sikes is the man claiming his Prius accelerated out of control at 94 miles per hour. He has denied through his lawyer allegations that it was a hoax.
The 61-year-old is a real estate salesman and also runs a swingers website that organizes cruises.
On the 2006 broadcast, when asked what he would do with the money if he won, he said: "You know we're going to put some money away for a cruise, we're going to probably most likely buy some new furniture, donate a portion to some charities and just have a good time in life."
Sikes's wife and family watched as he hit the button that sends a ball into the money slots.
The top prize was $150,000, but when he got to $55,000 he stopped.
"Big money sounds good but I'm going to stop, I'm going to take the $55,000, that's a lot of money
Pat Finn was the host of the TV lottery show.
"[Sikes] was somebody who was excited to be there in the first place, was lucky to make it to the show, and happy to win his $55,000. Luck was with him that day," says Finn.
Despite Sikes's claim that the Prius incident was not a hoax, Toyota engineers say his claim that "the gas pedal was stuck" is impossible.
