THOUSAND OAKS : $19.8-Million Ticket Purchased at Mall

A lone winner of Wednesday’s $19.8-million state lottery jackpot, the biggest win in Ventura County history, purchased the lucky ticket at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks, lottery officials said Thursday.

By late Thursday, no winner had stepped forward to claim the prize, said Steve Freund, the manager of the state lottery office in Ventura.

“Most of the time a large winner is in shock the day after the lottery,” said Freund, who added that it is not unusual for a large prize to go unclaimed for a day or two.

The size of Wednesday’s Lotto jackpot surpasses the $17.1 million won in 1990 by Lydia Neufeld of Simi Valley, the county’s previous record winner.

Wednesday’s drawing marked the third time in less than a year that a county resident has won a state lottery jackpot in excess of $10 million. David Simpson of Oxnard won $15.7 million in April, while Louie Asimakis of Ventura netted $11.2 million in January.

The winning ticket was bought at the Cal Info information booth sometime Wednesday morning, lottery officials said.

Shirley Witmer, who manages the booth, said she hopes that the winner is one of the many elderly mall-walkers who get their exercise at the mall each morning.

“They always talk about what they can do for their children and grandchildren with their winnings, so I know the money would be well-spent,” said Witmer.

As the vendor that sold the winning ticket, Cal Info stands to receive $198,359, or 1% of the winning amount.