Lottery winner attacked on street

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 posted 10:20 AM EST

ANCHORAGE — The man who won the state's first half-million-dollar lottery was attacked on a downtown street Tuesday afternoon with a tire iron or metal pipe, according to Anchorage police.

Police say Alec Ahsoak, 53, was attacked when a man approached him to ask if he was the man who won the $500,000 jackpot.

Whether the attack was motivated by Ahsoak's winning the lottery or the widely distributed reports that he is a three-time convicted sex offender was unclear.

"There was no apparent attempt at robbery," police Lt. Dave Parker said. "He was struck eight to 10 times, and then he threw his Pepsi at the assailant and he ran for Phyllis' Cafe and the assailant ran off."

Ahsoak told officers he had been stopped by a white man believed to be about 21 and wearing a blue-and-white checked shirt, bluejeans and a white baseball cap as he entered the 5th Avenue Mall. The stranger asked if he was the lottery winner, and Ahsoak said he was, then went into the mall.

When he walked out minutes later carrying a Pepsi, the man approached him and began hitting him on the head with the weapon, police said.

Ahsoak was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries, which did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.

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