April 14, 2011 -- Francisco Santiago of New Britain considers himself a very lucky man. Now retired, he enjoys visiting with friends, spending time with his wife, Harriet, and occasionally, taking care of one of his seven grandchildren. Santiago also enjoys playing CT’s lottery games and watching the drawings on TV. “Even when I don’t play, I still like to watch the drawings,” Santiago said.
On April 11, 2011, Santiago was especially lucky—he had bought a Lucky-4-Life “Quick Pick” for that date, and he was watching the lottery drawing, when four of the winning numbers drawn matched those on his ticket. “I thought maybe I won $1,000, but when Harriet checked the lottery’s website, it was $10,000! I couldn’t believe it,” said Santiago.
The winning Lucky-4-Life numbers drawn on April 11 were 28 - 32 - 33 and 39. While Santiago matched those four numbers, he did not match the Lucky Ball number, which was 39.
Santiago isn’t the only New Britain resident who’s lucked out playing Lucky-4-Life. Since the game began on March 29, 2009, eleven other New Britainites won $10,000 playing the Lucky-4-Life draw game, including Richard Atashain, William Clines, Myrna Colon, Maria Correia, Giovanni Dastoli, Edward Grafe, Dominick Iudiciani, Ismael Marrero, Leonida Martinez, Luis Ramirez and Adam Szocki.
Mr. and Mrs. Santiago arrived at Lottery Headquarters in Rocky Hill recently to claim a check for $6,850 (prize value after taxes). “This will help pay for our car that needs to be fixed. We’ll also pay some bills,” said Mrs. Santiago.
Santiago purchased his winning Lucky-4-Life ticket at Stop & Shop, located on Corbin Avenue in New Britain. Stop & Shop will receive a $100 bonus check from the CT Lottery for doing so.