Lotto Winner’s Security Fear Has Weighty Answer

ANAHEIM — Narciso Rodriguez had just discovered Saturday night that the Super Lotto ticket in his hand was worth $3.6 million when a problem arose: finding a safe place to keep it until he could claim the prize.

After some thought, the Anaheim bus driver and weightlifting enthusiast decided to place the winning ticket under a 50-pound weight in his home.

The weight did the trick.

On Monday, he and the 18 other members of his Lotto-playing group were officially named recipients of the jackpot. Over the next 20 years, they will divide the annual $180,000 payment. Each person will receive about $10,000 a year.

Rodriguez and other employees at Consolidated Transportation Service Agency have been purchasing $50 to $70 worth of quick pick Lotto tickets each Wednesday and Saturday for about five weeks.

“We play all the time. There’s always a possibility you can win or you wouldn’t play,” Rodriguez said Monday.

When Rodriguez returned Sunday to the Anaheim liquor store where he purchased the winning ticket, “I first thought he was drunk or something,” said owner Tony Yu. “When I knew he was telling the truth, I was so happy.”

Rodriguez said the winnings will make it easier to send his 17-year-old daughter to college. “It will help us out,” he said.