Man Almost Threw Away $50K Lottery Ticket Purchased In Parsippany

PARSIPPANY, NJ — A Piscataway man became $50,000 richer while cleaning his car, after uncovering an old but winning lottery ticket.

Anup Patel bought the ticket on July 27, 2016 at a Parsippany news stand when the jackpot was nearly $42 million. When no one won the jackpot, Patel left the ticket in his cupholder without checking the numbers.

In late January, Patel cleaned his car, spotting the forgotten ticket. Before throwing it out, he checked the numbers, and realize he was $50,000 richer than he thought.

Patel's ticket numbers matched four of the five white balls and the Powerball drawn. His fifth white ball ticket number missed the jackpot win by one digit (his ticket had 49 and the winning number was 50). He claimed his prize money 190 after the drawing, on Feb. 3, 2017. Lottery officials announced his win in a news release on Tuesday.

Winners have one year from the date of the drawing to claim their prizes; after that, the ticket expires and becomes worthless.

“Powerball drawings are held twice a week,” said Carole Hedinger, New Jersey Lottery executive director. “Thousands of New Jersey Lottery tickets are eligible to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes after each drawing, regardless of whether the jackpot has been hit. I encourage all of our players to check their tickets after each drawing.”

The ticket was sold at Baldwin News & Food Store (138 Baldwin Road) in Parsippany.

Image: Patch File Photo

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