Man says he found $1m scratch ticket in trash
An 83-year-old Blackstone man unearthed a winning $1 million lottery ticket Tuesday while sifting through trash outside a local convenience store, but his remarkable find has reportedly been disputed by a lawyer who says the ticket belongs to his client.
Edward St. John said yesterday that he found the winning Massachusetts scratch ticket on a routine check of the throwaways from the White Hen
He has been trying to keep a low profile ever since.
''That was me," he said last night in a brief telephone interview. ''But I'm not interested in saying anything more."
The attorney disputing St. John's claim, identified by WCVB-TV as Dan Doyle, could not be reached for comment last night. He told the TV station in an interview Friday that he represented a client who bought the ticket, but did not reveal the client's name.
Bob Penta, who manages the White Hen Pantry, told WJAR-TV in Rhode Island that he knows St. John well and the winning ticket is real. ''He came in and showed me the one he found in the trash for a million dollars," Penta said. ''I verified it, and I verified it on the lottery machine, too."
St. John has gone to the store twice a day almost every day for at least three years, and he fished a $1,000 winner out of the trash earlier this year, Penta told WJAR.
Lottery officials could not be reached for comment last night, but according to the commission's website, it's finders keepers for lottery tickets that are not signed by the buyer.
''Without a signature on the back, a lottery ticket is considered a 'bearer instrument' and can be claimed by anyone presenting the ticket," the website states.
