Once the Blackstone man won more than $3,000 in a week. Another time, he scored about $20,000 on a winning lottery ticket.
But the one time he hit the $1 million jackpot, he said, he accidentally threw away his fortune.
Now he wants to collect his riches and has hired a lawyer to wrench the winning ticket away from the 82-year-old Blackstone resident who said he found it in the garbage last week.
"He's pretty emotionally upset," said Dan Doyle, a Blackstone lawyer representing the buyer of the ticket, who is in his 50s and wants to remain anonymous. "Obviously, he also is concerned . . . because this older gentleman found this windfall and he looks like the bad guy because he's trying to get what's rightfully his."
Doyle said yesterday that his client went into the White Hen Pantry convenience store in Blackstone last week and bought more than $600 worth of tickets. While still in the store, he scratched each ticket, placing the losing ones in a pile. He accidentally put the winning ticket in the loser pile, which he then threw in the wastebasket.
The store owner called to tell him that Edward St. John went into the trash can right after he left, Doyle said.
The incident was filmed on the store's video camera, Doyle said. But St. John maintains he found the ticket in a garbage bin outside.
"Well I'll be darned," he said in a brief telephone interview yesterday. "Can you imagine that? That's all I got to say."
if he can prove that he bought that particular ticket..fingerprints or receipts or whatever, then it's his other I'm afraid St.John is the lucky winner
Guy's spending a lot of money on lottery tickets. And lawyer, most likely. (Ironic coincidence, the Blackstone thing).
I don't know how the law works on such matters, but if it came to a jury deciding I'd like to think the jury members would take the approach that when you throw something away it ceases to be your property. If a dumpster-diver's lucky enough to find it, it's his. This guy can only guess the ticket was his unless he has play slips lying about, which could have been done after the draw.
Here's hoping the dumpster diver gets to keep his stroke of good fortune.
Jack
Why did the store owner call the big gambler to tell him about the old man's find in the trash can? Seems like he was jealous and wanted to stir up trouble! I can understand throwing away a winner if this was on the $10 Poker ticket -- Those tickets are hard to decipher if you don't play cards/poker and need to know what beats what to know if it's a winner or not. It's still finder's keepers though! Also, when will people learn to stay quiet and keep their good fortune/find to themselves? They always have to brag about it and consequently bring all this trouble on themselves!
Guy's spending a lot of money on lottery tickets. And lawyer, most likely. (Ironic coincidence, the Blackstone thing).
I don't know how the law works on such matters, but if it came to a jury deciding I'd like to think the jury members would take the approach that when you throw something away it ceases to be your property. If a dumpster-diver's lucky enough to find it, it's his. This guy can only guess the ticket was his unless he has play slips lying about, which could have been done after the draw.
Here's hoping the dumpster diver gets to keep his stroke of good fortune.
Jack
amen
BabyJC, the guy was excited..I doubt if I could have kept the good news to myself had i been in his place
When I first read this story, I didn't realize this was a scratch off ticket. The buyer is an idiot.
"Oh this one is a million dollar winner. Isn't that nice. Well, let me stick it in a pile and keep scratching"
With scratch off tickets, if you win, it will spell out (with three letters) what you won. $10=ten
$1= one
Free=fre
$100= hun
Seriously...look at your next scratch off ticket that you win. They do that so it's easier for the cashier to tell. If he didn't see the mil or whatever it says when you win a million (I wouldn't know) or if he knew and accidently put it in the "wrong pile" it's his loss....move on with life. You can't win a court case. Even with camera footage....it doesn't show you scratched off a winner. The fact that the cashier calls up Dude and tells him what happened, is jacked up. He was probably promised a little chunk of money if he would testify.
Let the trashdiver blows the money on trashcans to maintain his hobby. Let him invest it all and 20 years become a multi-millionaire.....JUST LET HIM HAVE IT.
(sorry if I sound mean....working on my first cup of coffee here! lol)
Stephanie
BabyJC, the guy was excited..I doubt if I could have kept the good news to myself had i been in his place
People who do not want to bring the stress and trouble into their life, that this old man is now going through, do not say anything and make a big fuss. All he had to do was go to Lottery headquarters and cash his ticket like every other winner, and no one would have ever known that he got it in a garbage can! You have to be smart -- And yes, you can be both excited and smart at the same time! If the old man loses his case, I don't feel sorry for him for not being smart and keeping it quiet!
Whit - You can't go buy the codes when you're dealing with the big winners (thousands of dollars, etc.) -- They do not spell out what the big prize is. When you see stores hang up photocopies to show off the big prizes that their store sold, look at the codes on the photocopied ticket -- They do not spell out what the corresponding big prize was. I wanted to know what the codes were for big winners, so I started taking notice when many stores hang up their photocopies, and the code letters on the winning big prize tickets do not correspond to the prize and just look like losing codes!
The lottery needs to make it clear that unless you are assaulted and have the winning ticket taken from your person, it is finders keepers. Even if video evidence shows Mr. Knucklehead throwing his tickets away, it should make no difference, he threw the ticket away and it now belongs to whoever took it out of the trash. Case closed.
What now make me feel even less sorry for the guy who allegedly threw the ticket away is that he now claims he knew he had won a million dollars but "accidently put the winning ticket in the loser pile." I'm sorry, the normal person does not casually put a million dollar winner in the same pile as $5 and $10 winners.
>People who do not want to bring the stress and trouble into their life, that this old man is now going through, do not say anything and make a big fuss. All he had to do was go to Lottery headquarters and cash his ticket like every other winner, and no one would have ever known that he got it in a garbage can! You have to be smart -- And yes, you can be both excited and smart at the same time! If the old man loses his case, I don't feel sorry for him for not being smart and keeping it quiet!
I totally agree. Be smart and quiet and you will end up on easy street, not paying a lawyer for a long expensive lawsuit.
I can't believe he it fighting this. Once you through something in the garbage it becomes public property. Anyone can take it. And yeah right like he really knew it was a winner and accidently threw it in the garbage. If I was scratching and won a million dollars I don't think I would finish scratching and there is no way I would let the ticket out of my sight. He found the ticket and as long as his name is on the back where it says to sign, the old guy is the rightful owner and nothing more can be said.
Brad
Finders keepers - losers... STUPID!
Guy's spending a lot of money on lottery tickets. And lawyer, most likely. (Ironic coincidence, the Blackstone thing).
I don't know how the law works on such matters, but if it came to a jury deciding I'd like to think the jury members would take the approach that when you throw something away it ceases to be your property. If a dumpster-diver's lucky enough to find it, it's his. This guy can only guess the ticket was his unless he has play slips lying about, which could have been done after the draw.
Here's hoping the dumpster diver gets to keep his stroke of good fortune.
Jack
I also hope that some really good attorney will represent the dumpster diver ticket holder pro bono for the case and all appeals filed.
I'm a 62 year old man and i pick up scratch tickets all the time and some times from the trash. I have collected $10.00 doing this. I have also mailed tickets in for a second chance drawing, but i did not win.
Does this mean i have to give up my $10.00
Naaaaa!!, don't think so.
If one of those tickets were worth $1 million it would NOT get lost.
That guy did NOT know he had a Million dollar ticket.
1. The 50 yr old throws the ticket away and leaves, not knowing he's got a million dollars.
2. The 82 yr old man comes in to the store, finds the ticket, gets excited and tells the clerk what he's won.
3. The clerk gets on the phone to the 50 yr old regular customer and says, hey, you'd better get down here right away, this old man just took one of your tickets, and maybe you can give me a nice tip for telling you so!
I hope the judge can see through the smoke n mirror story of the clerk and 50 yr old.
I'm not familar with the Massachusetts state lottery rules & regs, but here in Illinois a lottery ticket is considered a "bearer instrument". This means whoever is in possession of the ticket is the owner of said ticket, irregardless of how he/she came to be in possession of the ticket (barring an outright theft). That ticket became public domain when it came to rest in that garbage bin. Anyone could've pluck it out of there, you, me, Osama bin laden....Anyone!!
that is full of crap. i hope he loses and the old man gets to keep the ticket. i remember some years ago in the midwest two 10 year old girls found a 10,000 scratch ticket. they gave it to their dad and they got to keep the money. if he was stupid enough to throw it out. i would not give him one red cent. not a penny.
I think something is going on with the clerk and the man 50 year old guy. Maybe they are scheming together to get the ticket back and will end up spliting the profits.
i mean really who scratches a million dollar ticket and see that they won and put it on the side, he is just trying to collect what's not his, period.
I'd suggest they settle out of court, where as the old fell'r says, Hey I'll let ya keep your teeth and your dignity, we can then call it a day. End of story!
why should St. John have to share it?? Its his...the others are probably in cahoots.
If you won a million dollars, does that go into the winner's pile? For me it goes into the Super Winners' Pile, never let out of your sight pile, that's why I think this guy is full of crap. I wouldn't put a million dollar ticket in the same "winner pile" as a $10 winner, would you?
If you won a million dollars, does that go into the winner's pile? For me it goes into the Super Winners' Pile, never let out of your sight pile, that's why I think this guy is full of crap. I wouldn't put a million dollar ticket in the same "winner pile" as a $10 winner, would you?
No way, it wouldn't go into a pile at all. It would go in my *pocket*. It's St Johns ticket now!
My point exactly!!!! The deepest pocket on my person. Not in some pile. Might even tuck into my sock, not going to leave it on the counter like "oh well" just a winner, 1 Million, $10, $50 same thing. NO WAY. Sticking that ticket down my draws.... LOL
What if there is actual video surveillance that shows the guy who bought the "$600" worth of tickets, scratching them and then tossing a bunch of them in the trash and leaving. Then two minutes later, the tape would show this other guy going through the trash and retrieving the tickets.
I know that tickets are a bearer instrument and in my opinion the 82-year-old man should get to keep ALL of the $1 million. But, the way court systems are these days and who knows what kind of jury can be selected, it can go either way if the plaintiff can produce a video tape. You would be surprised what kind of language a lawyer can use or picture he can paint in these situations to sway a jury.
On another note, I've seen MANY discarded lottery scratch tickets where the person who tossed it only scratched the corners and sides of the ticket to reveal the 3-letter validation codes. If you play a certain game long enough, you'll get to know which portion of the ticket contains these letters. They don't understand that even if you see a losing 3-letter pattern it doesn't necessarily mean that your ticket is a loser. I mean in most cases, it probably is, but there is that slight chance that you might have just overlooked a big winning ticket. I've also seen situations where the person only scratches the 4-digit validation code and then walks up to the retailer to have it checked at the terminal. The retailer has to input these numbers after scanning it. This is foolish because there is nothing stopping the retailer from lying...or making a mistake when they manually type in those 4 digits. Can you imagine that? The ticket has 1532, which is the $1 million prize, and by mistake they key in 1533, which is a losing ticket.
Now I'm not sure how instant game tickets in Mass. are formatted and validated. They may or may not contain validation letters and/or numbers. I'm sure that there is some form of validation though. The point of the story is that if you purchase an instant game ticket it makes sense to scratch the ENTIRE playing surface and double check the outcome of the game. I've had situations where I've almost tossed a winning ticket because one of the winning matching numbers was in a far corner of the ticket and still covered by the metallic coating they use. I saw a 2, but it was actually a 22. Ask yourself, did you match your all your symbols or numbers to see if you've won a prize? It takes all the excitement away from me to just look for the validation codes/letters on the ticket and not "play" the game
It would seem to me, the moral of the story is, if you find money, shut your mouth and walk away. How many times do you hear about some one being caught for a crime because some one else opened their mouth. Take the ticket to another city, smile, and walk away. Smarter than announcing that you found a million dollars in a trash can - does any one want a share?
What in the hell was the clerk doing while the 80-year old had his head in the garbage? Did he think the 80-year old was collecting data for an experiment on the contents of convenience store garbage bins? This whole story smells worse than a sewage treatment plant on a hot day.
GO WHITE SOX!!!!!!!!!!
The octonagerian (sp?) should sue so he has a fighting chance to collect in lump sum. You remember Louise Outing from last year.
I can't see anybody giving him that money. "Finders keepers, losers weepers"