West Chicago Jewel-Osco sells $350,000 winning lottery ticket

A quick stop in West Chicago proved lucky for a pair of co-workers after a lottery ticket one of them purchased won a $350,000 Lucky Day Lotto jackpot.

The friends and co-workers, identified by the Illinois Lottery as April and Randy of Ashton, had played the lottery together for years and had agreed to split any winnings.

“People always told us, ‘You’re never going to win,’” Randy said. “But we’d laugh and say, ‘One day we’ll hit it.’”

On his way to a doctor’s appointment for his wife, Randy made a stop at the Jewel-Osco at 177 E. Roosevelt Road. His Quick Pick matched all five numbers — 2-4-6-27-39 — in the Jan. 7 drawing.

“We were in total disbelief,” April said. “At first, Randy thought we’d only won $350 and joked about buying more tickets. When I checked the app and saw it was $350,000, everything changed. Everyone at work started giving us high fives and congratulating us.”

For selling the winning ticket, the Jewel-Osco retailer will receive a bonus of one percent of the prize amount, totaling $3,500.

April and Randy told lottery officials they plan to put the winnings toward property investments, retirement savings and a vacation.

“My wife wants to go to Ireland,” Randy said. “But since I don’t fly, I might be getting a tattoo instead.”