Minesh Patel, owner of Jay’s Fresh Market in Stone Park, is overjoyed to learn his store recently sold a $4.1 million winning Lotto ticket | Provided by the Illinois Lottery
STONE PARK, Ill. - A winning Illinois Lottery ticket worth over $4 million was sold a week ago in Cook County.
The jackpot-winning Lotto ticket was purchased from Jay's Fresh Market, located at 1550 N. Mannheim Road in Stone Park.
The ticket matched all six numbers for Saturday's Lotto drawing. The winning numbers were 1-11-15-16-34-41.
"When we first heard the news, we thought it was fake or a joke," Minesh Patel, owner of Jay’s Fresh Market, told the Illinois Lottery. "But 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."
Jay's Fresh Market will receive one percent of the total prize amount, or $41,000.
Patel said he plans to use the money to upgrade security and technology at his business.
Over 435,000 winning Lotto game tickets wer sold in September, totaling over $5.5 million in prizes, lottery officials said.
Lottery officials encourage all winners to write the name on the back of their ticket and secure it in a safe place before claiming their prize. Winners can visit the Illinois Lottery website for more information.