Sausalito Gas Station Worker Who Won $750,000 In Lottery Plans To Start Business, Help Homeless
NOVATO (CBS SF) -- A Novato man won $750,000 in the California Lottery Friday and stashed the winning ticket in a children's book until he could redeem it Monday, lottery officials said.
He plans to use some of the money to help the homeless, the officials said.
Manuel Apodaca Reyes was on his way to the Russian River to relax on a camping trip with his wife when he stopped to get a few Scratchers tickets, the officials said. He bought a 30th anniversary ticket for $30 and screamed when he saw he won, according to the officials.
"Hey, we won 750," he said to his wife Carla.
"750? That's good!" she said.
"No! $750-thousand!" Apodaca Reyes replied.
She didn't believe him.
But instead of taking the ticket to the river, Apodaca Reyes went home so he didn't lose it, lottery officials said.
"I put it in a big children's book and put it under the bed so nobody could get it," he said.
The father of two boys, Apodaca Reyes works as a cashier at a gas station in Sausalito. He said he'll use some of the money to start a business, such as a restaurant or carpet-cleaning firm, and some to help the homeless, lottery officials said.
"I want to use my money as an instrument to help people. I'd like to buy tamales for the homeless people waiting for jobs - the Latinos in San Rafael who are hungry, who hang out on Francisco Boulevard in the Canal District," he told lottery officials.
He bought the ticket at the Union 76/Circle K at 375 Ignacio Boulevard in Novato, the officials said. The winnings are more than he's ever won since he started playing the lottery more than 20 years ago, according to lottery officials.
The anniversary Scratchers ticket is the California lottery's most expensive ticket, with a top prize of $10 million, lottery spokesman Elias Dominguez said.
"When I play, I play big!" Apodaca Reyes said.
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