Kalamazoo, Mich., mart customer holds $36M lottery ticket
6/14/2010KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A regular lottery customer of a gas station market in Kalamazoo holds the winning Mega Millions ticket for a $36 million jackpot, the store owner said Monday.
Citgo One Stop Mart owner Kaushik Patel said his southwest Michigan store sold the winning ticket last week in Friday night's multistate game drawing.
Patel said the man, who hasn't been identified, came to the store Saturday to check his tickets but the machine didn't process. He went home, checked online and discovered his numbers matched.
Then, Patel said, the customer called him to say he — and the store — were winners. Patel congratulated him and now looks forward to promoting it.
“It's good for the store,” said Patel. “It's good for the business — we sell more tickets.”
Patel said the customer spends $50 to $60 weekly on the Mega Millions' Tuesday and Friday drawings.
Lottery spokeswoman Andi Brancato said Monday morning the winner has not yet contacted the state. She said he must schedule an appointment with lottery officials in Lansing to confirm he holds the winning ticket and collect the money.
Mega Millions winners have one year from the drawing date to contact lottery officials.
The winning numbers were six, 13, 33, 34 and 42. The Mega Ball was 25. The ticket matched all numbers and the Mega Ball.
The $250,000 prize winning-ticket, which matched five numbers, was sold at the Sundry Shop in the Detroit suburb of Westland.
Michigan's last Mega Millions winner was Chris Crane, who won $42 million in October 2008. The state's largest Mega Millions jackpot was $208 million and won by Ralph and Mary Stebbins in April 2005.