It’s only three weeks into the New Year and extremely good fortune has already visited two California Lottery players.
Daniel Miguel Galeon, 26, recently learned he and his wife are expecting their first child. And then learned he won a whopping $3,167,202 playing Powerball.
His first reaction was to assume the machine was broken and asked the cashier to double check by scanning a non-winning ticket through the machine, the California Lotto said in an announcement Friday.
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Galeon said he was in shock as he drove home, but when reality finally hit him, he couldn’t stop yelling for joy.
One of the two Quick Pick tickets that Galeon bought at a 7-Eleven located at 1699 W. Carson St. in Torrance matched five of the six numbers in the Jan. 18 draw.
The newly minted millionaire plans to pay off some bills, buy a car and a house, and spoil his growing family. He also plans to donate a portion of his winnings to Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles.
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The convenience store that sold Galeon the winning ticket will receive $15,836.01.
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And Galeon wasn’t the only SoCal lotto player to win big bucks in the New Year.
A former grocery store clerk can now add $1 million to her retirement fund, California lotto officials announced Friday.
Patricia Witt purchased a winning lottery ticket at a Thousand Oaks drug store with money she received for pet sitting a friend’s cats – a favor she did, even though she’s allergic to felines.
“I could not believe it at all, it just feels like a Cinderella story,” Witt told the California Lottery.
Witt’s generosity for her friend “who didn’t have anyone to help” watch her pets paid off when she bought the $10 California Gold Scratchers ticket at a CVS Pharmacy located at 1382 North Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks.
The pharmacy will receive $5,000 for selling the winning ticket, lottery officials said.
