Suspense reached a fever pitch Monday evening when lottery officials delayed the scheduled drawing. “Couldn’t have happened to a better person,” said Clarence Goin, another longtime friend and neighbor who stopped by for the excitement.Īnticipation over the record-setting lottery drawing had grown as the jackpot ballooned for weeks. “This is the only place I get my gas, even when the prices go up.”Īnother customer ran up to Chahayed, shouting “Congratulations, bro!” and shook his hand while a woman stood nearby taking a cellphone video as Chahayed chatted with local media. “He’s just an excellent person … everybody loves Joe,” he said. “He deserves it,” said Kenny Devine, a friend, neighbor and longtime customer.ĭevine and his sister posed for a photo with Chahayed before gushing even more about his friend. Neighbors and customers streamed in to congratulate the station owner, hugging him as though he were family. (1/2) /9mSEAh18s1- California Lottery November 8, 2022 The final jackpot amount for this draw came to $2.04 BILLION dollars. Sporting a California Lottery hat and shirt, and an “I voted” sticker, Chahayed said that while he is glad to share his bonus money with family, he is more excited about the money set to go to California schools as well as the possibility of a newly minted local billionaire investing in the Altadena community.Ĭalifornia Lottery makes its FIRST EVER Billionaire! One lucky ticket sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena matched all 6 numbers in the November 7 #Powerball draw. There are a lot of poor people here they deserve it.” “I’m happy for California I’m happy for L.A.,” Chahayed said. The 75-year-old owner of Joe’s Service Center, now an ExxonMobil franchise, said he plans on sharing the money with his 11 grandchildren and the rest of his family. Lottery officials surprised him at his store early Tuesday with news that he’d be receiving a $1-million bonus check for selling the $2.04-billion jackpot-winning ticket. In the meantime, Chahayed is celebrating a windfall of his own. 9, 2022 A previous version of this story said lottery officials visited Chahayed’s store at 5:45 a.m.
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