Hi,
A lucky lottery player (who stopped in) (to a suburban Cincinnati liquor store) has a Mega Millions ticket worth $196 million.
1. What's the meaning of stopped in to? (stop in) means visit someplace casually and for a short time.
eg If you're in my neighbourhood, stop in. I'd love to see you.
As shown by my brackets, the 'to' goes with the phrase 'to a . . store'.
Does it imply the person came in a car? No.
2. What's a good substitue for stopped into? You could say 'popped in', 'went in'.
Best wishes, Clive