Lottery Customers Laugh, Stay in Line as Wounded Man Bleeds in Parking Lot

Store owner Mike Dagher had just announced to a crowd of edgy customers that Lotto ticket sales were over for the night when shots rang out in the parking lot.

No one budged.

Rather than dash out to help a gunshot victim, most of the 30 Lotto-crazed customers lingered in line hoping to purchase a winning $104-million ticket.

Dagher said he wanted to run out himself, but he and two clerks were too busy serving the agitated customers.

“I was busy; I didn’t know what was happening,” he said Thursday from behind the counter at One-Stop Liquor Market, 1061 Wooley Road. “It’s crazy, it’s crazy. I don’t believe it.”

The shooting occurred moments after Lotto ticket sales ended at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday. Liquor store employees say Valentino Sapien, 46, had just walked out the door after purchasing a ticket when they heard three shots.

Sapien of Oxnard was confronted by at least two men as he approached his truck, where his girlfriend was waiting, police said. After a brief argument among the men, one of the assailants shot Sapien in the stomach and each of his forearms, authorities said.

The suspects fled and were still at large Thursday. Sapien was listed in serious but stable condition in the intensive care unit at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.

Two investigators said they were uncertain what prompted the shooting, but dismissed reports that the incident was a result of the Lotto-buying furor inside the store.

“At this time, our investigation indicates it was not related to Lotto fever,” Det. Robert Coughlin said, adding that he still has 30 witnesses to interview, including Sapien.

“As far as tempers being high inside the store, that may be so,” said Det. Mike Palmieri. “But so far, there was nothing that we came up with to suggest it had anything to do with the lottery.”

Still, it was a night that Sam, a clerk at the store, won’t soon forget. Tempers flared, he said, after the Lotto machine suddenly shut down about 5 p.m. and remained down for an hour.

“People were very upset,” said Sam, who declined to give his last name. “I could tell they were getting really agitated.”

After the three shots were fired outside, he said, he was stunned at the crowd’s nonchalance as he called police.

“I was amazed that some people were acting like nothing happened,” he said. “Some people were even laughing about it.”

Customers were more concerned about losing their place in line.

“Even though we announced, ‘The Lotto is over!’ people stayed in line and were trying to buy them anyway,” he said.

Jeanette Figueroa, 22, said the neighborhood store, in a small strip mall next to a barbershop and a Mexican restaurant, is frequented by children.

“Now I’m worried about the kids who come here alone to pick up stuff for their parents,” Figueroa said. “My parents live next to this store. I grew up here. This is the first time this kind of thing has ever happened.

“I’m just glad I bought my Lotto ticket on Monday,” she added.