Watchung Coffee Stop Leads To $622K Lottery Win

WATCHUNG, NJ — Joseph Nicastro stopped at a local store for coffee and wound up a very rich man.

Nicastro, of Mountainside, purchased a few Jersey Cash 5 lottery tickets at the Speedy Mart store at 17 Johnson Drive. The next morning he stopped by the store to check his tickets.

Nicastro joked with the clerk, telling her, "Show me the 'Sorry, not a winner validating ticket.'"

The clerk scanned the ticket and excitedly said, "Joe, you hit it!"

Nicastro thought she meant he won $2 and asked for his money, but she corrected him, saying he won big. His ticket from the game's March 29 drawing was wroth more than $622,000.

Nicastro called his wife, Joyce, who, knowing her husband was a prankster, did not believe him, so she hung up, lottery officials said.

The store clerk called Joyce Nicastro and she still did not believe her husband won, chalking it up to a an April Fools joke. It was not until Nicastro showed Joyce the ticket that she believed him.

Nicastro and his wife will pay bills with the money and save for their future.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: Joseph Nicastro and his wife Joyce holds up a ceremonial check for $622,000. (Courtesy of New Jersey Lottery)