Lotto ticket worth $4.1M sold at suburban Chicago supermarket
STONE PARK, Ill. (CBS) – An Illinois Lottery retailer became an instant millionaire after purchasing a winning Lotto ticket from a supermarket in Stone Park last week.
The $4.1 million ticket was bought at Jay's Fresh Market, 1550 N. Mannheim Road, for the Sept. 28 drawing. The store is about 15 miles west of downtown Chicago.
The winning ticket matched all six numbers in Saturday's drawing: 1, 11, 15, 16, 34, and 41.
Upon hearing the news, owner Minesh Patel thought it was a joke.
"The morning after the drawing, a customer came in and said, 'Did you see? Somebody won the Lotto jackpot last night, and they bought their ticket here!' That's when we realized it was real – I was so surprised and excited," he said.
Patel added, "While I have no idea who the winner is, I really hope it's one of our regular customers, most of whom we know by name."
The market will receive a one-percent bonus of the prize amount, or $41,000, for selling the winning ticket. Just a few years back, the store also sold a $75,000 winning scratch-off ticket.
Patel said he would use the prize to improve and update the business and increase security and technology to keep the store and its staff safe.
According to lottery officials, more than 435,000 winning Lotto game tickets were sold in September alone, with total prizes amounting to over $5.5 million.
Winners have one year from the date of the winning draw to claim their prize. The Illinois Lottery encourages all lucky winners to write their name on the back of their ticket and keep it in a safe place until they're ready to claim their prize.
Lotto is an Illinois-only game played three times a week on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Tickets can be purchased in-store, online, or on the Illinois Lottery app.
