Second of 2 Lottery Jackpot Winners Has Yet to Step Forward

Somewhere out there is a $16-million ticket purchased in Orange County, and California Lottery officials on Friday urged the winner to step up to the pay window and collect.

“I hope people are checking their pockets and searching through their laundry baskets,” said Herman Dustman, lottery district manager for Orange and Los Angeles counties. Although a Mission Viejo man has claimed his half of the $32.8-million state jackpot, the waiting continued Friday for the second winner to step forward.

“Maybe this is a group-play situation, and they want to get everything in order before they come in,” Dustman said. “This is unusual.”

Both winning tickets in Wednesday’s Lotto 6/53 drawing were purchased in Orange County. The winning numbers were 16, 23, 26, 34, 35 and 38. The bonus number was 3. One of the two people with that winning combination, used-car salesman Ricardo Velazquez, 40, seemed uneasy with his new wealth and canceled a scheduled appearance with lottery officials Friday in Los Angeles.

“It’s my first time that I am popular, and I don’t like it,” Velazquez said of the numerous media requests since he staked claim to his half of the fortune Thursday. “I need to be very private in my life. I like people, but I would like them to respect my privacy.”

Dustman said Velazquez canceled the appearance because of “emotional strain.”

“He’s been up all night,” Dustman said of Velazquez. “This has just been a tremendous emotional change for him. He just can’t take it. He’s a very quiet man, a very private man.”

Velazquez and his wife, Milagros--whose name, appropriately enough, means “miracles” in Spanish--are expecting their second child in two months. The family on Friday was already certain of what they would do with some of the winnings--about $656,000 annually for the next 20 years, after taxes.

“The first thing I will do is buy a house for my mother,” Velazquez said. “I want to provide security for my family. I am very excited. This news is incredible. My life is changed.”

Although Velazquez said he was not sure he would return to work at Worldwide Auto Sales in Santa Ana, where his brother, Javier, is the manager, his co-workers there certainly don’t expect him back anytime soon.

Ray Hernandez, assistant manager at the company, said Velazquez had called him early Friday morning about making some plane reservations.

Thursday, “he said he would be back tomorrow,” said David Layton, co-owner of the business. “But I don’t think he’ll ever be coming back. He’s probably headed to Las Vegas.”

Layton described Velazquez as a very quiet man who averaged 10 to 15 car sales a month.

“He’s very laid-back, very low-key,” Layton said of the winner. “It probably hasn’t hit him yet.”

Also sharing in the lottery windfall are two Orange County store owners who will pocket about $82,000 each for selling the winning tickets.

For James and June Park, owners of the Santa Liquor Market & Deli in Santa Ana, where Velazquez bought his winning ticket, it was their second spot of luck in eight months. Last December, the Parks sold a jackpot-winning ticket to the assistant manager of a Santa Ana mobile home park and took home a $50,500 share of the winnings. Friday, customers were buzzing about the latest good news and buying still more lottery tickets.

“We don’t know what we’ll do with this yet,” James Park said. “We have to think about it.”

Insin Do, owner of Chappy’s Liquor in Garden Grove--where the other winning ticket was sold--said Friday he had not decided what he’ll do with the money. He said his small store has been selling $15,000 worth of tickets each month.

Lottery officials said the co-winner or winners of California’s 10th-largest jackpot will have 180 days to claim the half-share. If it is not claimed, officials said the money will be credited to the California public school system.

In the four years the California Lottery has been in existence, two jackpot prizes have gone unclaimed, officials said.