Gonzales Resident Claims $1.4 Million Lotto Jackpot

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On Sunday morning, Teddy Owens of Gonzales went to his local corner store to grab a Dr. Pepper and check his Lotto and Powerball tickets for the previous night's drawing. He left with more than a soda -- Owens, age 27, was the sole winner of the $1,442,840 Lotto jackpot from the July 7 drawing, which he claimed yesterday at Louisiana Lottery headquarters.

"I rushed out so quickly from the store. I'm not sure if I actually purchased the Dr. Pepper that was in my hands," recalled Owens.

He purchased his winning ticket at the Oak Terrace Service Center on S. Burnside Avenue in Gonzales. His Lotto ticket consisted of five boards of numbers that Owens chose himself from family birthdays. In addition to the Lotto jackpot, he won a total of $58 on the other four boards.

He received $1,010,028 after state and federal taxes were withheld. Owens said he has played Lottery scratch-off and draw-style games since he was 21.  He plans to continue playing the Lottery and put his winnings into savings.

Owens said he almost didn't purchase his winning Lotto ticket. In fact, he spent his entire Saturday mowing the lawns of three homes and didn't make it to the store until 8:45 p.m., just beating the 9 p.m. cut-off time for Powerball purchases.  

Oak Terrace Service Center Convenience Store will receive a one-time bonus of $14,428 or one percent of the jackpot prize for selling Owens his winning ticket. The winning numbers for the July 7 Lotto drawing were 5-10-11-16-25-33.