eEdition
Sign up for email newsletters
Sign up for email newsletters
eEdition
Trending:
A winning Scratcher ticket sold on Valentine’s Day at a Sebastopol convenience store made one lucky player $5 million richer, according to the California Lottery.
It’s the fifth California Lottery ticket worth $1 million or more purchased in the county this year.
The winning ticket, a $20 Maximum Millions Scratchers game, was sold at Husary’s 76 gas station and convenience store at 2110 Gravenstein Highway North in Sebastopol on Feb. 14, California Lottery officials said a Monday news release.
Edy Giron Ruiz claimed the prize, according to the release, which is the the highest payout for the game.
The chances of winning one of game’s three top prizes were 1 in 3 million.
Lottery officials said Ruiz bought the ticket during a “routine stop” at the store with his brothers after work.
“When I scanned it and saw what it said, I couldn’t believe it. It was only happiness,” Ruiz told lottery officials. “I was with my brothers and we all celebrated together.”
“Mr. Ruiz works with his brothers in a construction business, and he happened to be in the Sebastopol area at the time for a job when he purchased the winning ticket,” California Lottery spokesperson Yvonne Vazquez said in a Tuesday email to The Press Democrat. “He’s been playing Lottery games since 2018, the year he arrived in the U.S.”
Chris Green, manager of Husary’s 76, said in a phone call Tuesday that he was not there when the ticket was sold, but that lottery officials came to the station to confirm the winning ticket. As with any Scratchers top prize of $1 million or more, Husary’s earned a bonus of one-half of 1% of the prize, or $250,000. The store’s owner, Mousa Husary, use some of the money to give all the employees a bonus, Green said.
“He’s a really good boss,” he said.
With his winnings now in hand, Ruiz told lottery officials that he plans to visit his family.
“He’s especially happy about the prize because he can now visit his family in Mexico, a trip he hasn’t been able to make since moving here,” Vazquez said in Tuesday’s email. “These funds will allow him to reunite with them after several years apart.”
Four other tickets sold in Sonoma County have been big winners this year.
In March, a winning Set for Life Scratchers ticket worth $1.2 million was sold at MD Liquor & Food on Mission Boulevard in Santa Rosa, a winning $100 Million Mega Cash Scratchers ticket worth $1 million was sold at MD Liquor & Food at University Square in Rohnert Park and a winning SuperLotto Plus ticket worth $30 million was purchased at My Good Market in Cotati.
In January, a Winter Magic Multiplier Scratchers game worth $1 million was sold at Oliver’s Market on Stony Point Road in Santa Rosa.
Copyright © 2025 MediaNews Group