For weeks, Dipak Patel and his wife, Hetal, owners of the Pinebuff Mini Mart reminded their customers to check their lottery tickets because the store had sold a winning Carolina Cash 5 ticket worth $236,455 in March.
If only Ed Studebaker had listened.
Studebaker, a West End resident who works as a manufacturing engineer in Pinebluff and is a regular customer at the Mini Mart, had the winning lottery ticket. He just didn't know it.
The ticket sat in his home for nearly two months before he realized he'd won.
"The clerk at the store kept saying that someone had won a Cash 5 jackpot and that I should check my tickets," Studebaker said in a release from the North Carolina Education Lottery. "I finally asked my daughter to check my tickets for me on Sunday. She called me at work the next day and told me I had won.
"I thought she was messing with me, but my wife confirmed it."
Studebaker, a regular Carolina Cash 5 player, filled out his winning ticket with the birthdays of his family members. He matched all five numbers, 1, 3, 4, 25, 27.
Studebaker received a check worth $160,790 after state and federal taxes were withheld. He said he plans to use a portion of his winnings to purchase a fuel efficient car, take a cruise and pay bills.
"I'm so happy," Studebaker said as he received his winnings. "I have the money in hand. It's starting to sink in. It's real."
Dipak Patel said Studebaker was back in the store last week on behalf of his co-workers. They wanted to test his luck with the big Powerball jackpot, but lightning didn't strike twice.
"I expect they will be back to buy more tickets," Patel said Friday morning.
The Patels have owned the Mini Mart on Walnut Street in Pinebluff for 13 years. Studebaker's winning ticket was the largest winning amount sold by the store, Patel said. In 2009 the store sold a winning Power Ball ticket worth $10,000.
Dipak Patel said selling a winning ticket is a good boost for business.
"It's a good advertisement for our store," Patel said.
Unbelievable,an honest Patel.Will wonders never cease?
Unbelievable that the guy wanted to advertise his store and get the commission check?
Unbelievable that the Patels didn't steal their customers ticket and cash it in themselves after reading all the news stories and articles I read here on LP.
I think those kind of clerks/owners are the exception NOT the rule.
You could have fooled me.The Patels are a well known clan of crooks and thieves.One was busted for burning down his grocery store in Hamilton,Illinois.a couple of years ago and I don't know how many clerks named Patel that I have read about stealing lottery winnings from the real owners.
I was talking about in general across the country. Besides that's why we have laws and they DO eventually get busted. In AZ they don't puul that crap much because we have a Sheriff that is happy to cuff em.
The Patels are a chain of thieves and the only reason they may be the exception is because they didn't get a hold of the real owners ticket.
They could be Born Again Patels.
If people were more responsible with the handling of their tickets the crooked clerks would never get away with it.
I can't speak for all of them but I know some Patels in a store in the area and they seem like very nice people.
The woman even makes googly eyes at me when her husband's not around.
If clerks/Patels were more responsible we wouldn't have these issues and real winners would NOT be getting ripped off.
No one expects the clerk behind the counter to commit lottery fraud
I'm talking about in general,across the country,too.They don't care about laws and your sheriff or my sheriff or any sheriff for that matter.When they get caught they play ignorant of the law and the english language.Then some bleeding heart liberal judge gives them their walking papers because they don't understand what they did was against the law.When foriegners break our laws they should be imprisoned and then deported,not excused!
They are greedy for money
LOL, Congrats to the lucky winner.
Congratulations to the winner!
It blows my mind, however, that someone who plays any lottery game regularly doesn't check his tickets!
Relax...
Patel = Smith in other countries. Not all "Smith" families here are related, unless you go back about 30-40 generations.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Congrats to the lucky winner!
Lmao...Ridge maybe someday you can find a good woman.....hang in there.
That makes me wonder are you really an old man like your avartar shows if yes then make it a dirty old man lol.
Always check your ticket!
Why even buy a lottery ticket if you're not going to check it?
You would be a fool to let so much money slip away. Don't be a fool!
Congratulations to this lottery jackpot winner. I like his three, partial spending ideas!
The Patels have owned the Mini Mart on Walnut Street in Pinebluff for 13 years. Studebaker's winning ticket ($236,455) was the largest winning amount sold by the store, Patel said.
To me this is the most striking sentence in the whole story. A store selling tickets for 13 years and this is their biggest win. Another great reminder that lottery is NOT easy to win.
Congratz man
I find it interesting that the winners last name is Studebaker, and he's a manufacturing engineer,
I have to wonder if he's related to the folks that made the Studebaker car,
and before that, the Studebaker Conestoga wagon in the 19 century.
The more regular you play, the less likely you are to keep checking your tickets. lol.
We may never know.
Good point. That covers every lottery customer for the past 13 years.
The name of the wife is Hetal Patel ? A great name for a novel. Their kids are Gretal, Petal and Metal.
LMAO !
They have another kid who's a drag racer, he's called,
pedal to the metal,
? is which one has the mettle to be a Patel, LOL
lol lol The Siamese twins are called Pretzel.
welcome a911scanner,
thanks for that post, I have pointed that out in past threads, but usually said "w/no offense to anyone named Smith"
I know quite a few people named Smith, they don't like the comparison.
Are they the ones who own the Seattle Patel Cattle farm?
hahaha funny rhyme that one is. Imagine "Pedal to the Metal Patel" in junior high lol he'd be bullied to death
Don't know, but if rustlers were on their land, they would certainly hear the rattle on the Seattle Patel cattle farm. LMAO
If this is a general statistic for the stores - averaging 13 years before selling a big win, I wonder what is the general statistic for individuals before winning a big one 13x2 >26 years?
I have 16 year to go if thats the case lol
The Patel Rattle rings loudly on the range.
Anytime within the next 26 years will be just fine by me.
crackin up !
One of their fav. tunes is PRETZEL LOGIC by steely dan.
lol lol And they are both rebels with lots of freckles.
If 26 years is the magic time to win, then I'm about to win!!!
...I'm on 23/24 (not for sure if I started in '89 or '90).
WOW, this is getting twisted,
Patels w/ kids gretal,petal & metal along w/ pedal to the metal,
si...twin cousins w/freckles that are rebels and steely fans , and they're cattle ranchers in a big city that sell lottery tix.
did i leave anything out ?
The first LP group novel!
How about a sitcom ?
married Patel's w/ children.
Rofl!!! Even better.
Married patels w/ children
that own cattle ranches that sell lottery tix. LMAO
We have our tv script logline now! Now we just need the script.
If I were Ed, I would give Patel 1,500 to 3,000 dollars as a sign of my gratitude. Without Patel, Ed may miss the deadline and never seen the money.
In other new I am moving to that area, and buying my tickets there from now on. 10K powerball ticket? If I hit the 1 mill I would be set. lol
What the heck does that mean?
It means exactly what it says.
My thoughts exactly! A Glimmer of Sunshine ..... (I think I hear birdies singing).....beau
They (Patels) brought this upon themselves...............maybe they could change their last name to......??????
Wearenotthosepatels.....Wantps.....Mr and Mrs Wantps........(It's gotta nice ring to it!) beau
not evry patel is going to hell.
lol yeah whats with that? Always wanting to talk to you but when the wifes around your just anither customer....
Hey I always liked Studebakers. Lucky guy !
Never really noticed the name "Patel" before seeing it several times on Lottery Post News. Since then I saw a Patel bank manager, a Doctor Patel and several gas station/food marts owed by a Patel. When I stopped to get gas in Western Kentucky that store was owned by a Patel and it was an authorized KY Lottery cashing agent.
Read where one out of every five motels are owned by a Patel. I wouldn't compare the number of Patels (145,000) to the number of Smiths (2.8 million) in the U.S., but it is the 172nd most common surname.
I have bought tickets from that store on many occasion, but have not went back because it's out of town for me to drive there. Just about everystore where I live is own by the Patels. Thats where more winners come from, don't know why! but I have seen where winners win more from them kind of store owners. Has anyone one else notice that?
It's good for the winner he was able to claim his prize. The store definitely will have a share for selling a winning ticket. Players should be more cautious in keeping their tickets especially now that winning lottery will become harder.