$4.85M winning lottery ticket sold in River Grove
RIVER GROVE, Ill. - A winning lottery ticket worth nearly $5 million was sold over the weekend in west suburban River Grove.
The $4.85 million winning Lotto ticket was sold at Rich's Fresh Market, 3141 N. Thatcher Ave. in River Grove, according to a statement from the Illinois Lottery. It matched all six numbers – 8 – 12 – 14 – 22 – 27 – 36 – in Saturday’s evening drawing.
"We know who bought the winning ticket – he is one of our regular customers," said Lucas Bujak, General Manager of Rich’s Fresh Market.
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"The gentleman came into the store on Sunday morning and began inserting his tickets into the Lottery machine. One of my employees jokingly asked him if he won, but before he could answer, the customer almost fainted," Bujak said.
Lucas Bujak, General Manager of Rich’s Fresh Market in River Grove, sold a $4.85 million winning Lotto ticket for the Saturday, October 15 drawing. (Illinois Lottery)
According to one of Bujak's employees, a few minutes later, the customer began shouting, "I can’t believe it, I actually won the Lotto jackpot – I guess I can now quit my job."
The player is now the tenth Illinois Lotto player to win a prize of a million dollars or more since January 2022. The prize is the second-largest Lotto jackpot win since April 2022.
Rich's Fresh Market will receive a bonus of $48,500, or 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling the winning ticket.
"I’ve been with the company for over 20 years and our grocery-store chains have sold a lot of winning Lottery tickets. However, this is the biggest one we’ve been a part of - thanks to our loyal customers," Bujak said.
The person who bought the winning ticket should immediately sign the back of the ticket and keep it in a safe place until they visit an Illinois Lottery Prize Center, lottery officials said. Winners have one year from the original drawing to claim their prizes.
The current jackpot is now at $2 million for Monday night’s drawing.