Claims third-tier prize from April 4 drawing
An April Mega Millions winner realized that good fortune had smiled upon him only this week. The Baltimore City resident told Lottery officials he was shocked to discover a ticket had delivered a $30,030 prize almost three months earlier. Lady Luck sure can be patient!
“Forty-four has always been my number, for several reasons,” the construction worker said. While he is a once-in-a-while Lottery player, the lucky man made sure that one of those times he played was April 4. “Fourth day, fourth month – it had to be lucky for me, right?”
He bought a $15 ticket with the Megaplier, which tripled his prize. Playing just about every game that the Lottery offers that day, the winner followed his normal routine of storing his tickets – including the third-tier prize-winning Mega Millions ticket – in his car until the pile grew so big that he had to check them.
“I’m in and out of my car a lot every day,” he said. “I think back now to what could have happened to the ticket, just sitting there for weeks and weeks.”
This week he stopped in at a Lottery retailer to scan the pile of tickets. “I checked the tickets one after another, a mixture of small wins and non-winners, and then BAM!” Not believing his eyes when he saw the scanner message about his Mega Millions ticket, he asked the clerk to run it through the Lottery terminal. “She looked up at me and said, ‘Sir, you’ve just won more than $30,000.’”
The loyal player plans to add his Mega Millions winnings to his family’s rainy day fund. “I don’t have any immediate plans for the cash,” he said. “But it sure does help me rest easy knowing it’s there if we need it.” Montgomery Exxon at 6310 Washington Boulevard in Elkridge was Lady Luck’s helper in this happy transaction.