May 02, 2012 -- Monday morning, Daniel DiBella of Newington purchased a wishing well—a decorative ornament that he had wanted for his property for quite some time.  “When I bought the wishing well, I made a wish that I’d win $5,000,” said DiBella, with a laugh.  “Instead, I won $1,000,000.  That’s pretty good!”

After placing his new wishing well on his front lawn, DiBella stopped at his favorite donut shop, King Donut, located at 289 Main Street in Newington to buy a cup of coffee and a CT Lottery “$1,000,000 Jackpot” instant game ticket from store owner, Vijay Patel.  Scratching the play areas, DiBella handed his ticket to Patel to be checked.  Unbeknownst to DiBella, it was a $1,000,000 top prize winner.  “Vijay nearly fainted,” DiBella said.  “I think he was more excited than I was.”

A winning symbol match on his ticket gave DiBella the choice of a $1,000,000 20-year annuity prize or a cash lump sum value of $790,900.  DiBella and his wife, Gloria, opted for the cash lump sum.  Together they arrived at Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill to receive a prize check for $540,187 after taxes.

“We’re going to share some of the prize with our three daughters and our grandchildren, and vacation this summer in Cape Cod—our favorite place to visit,” DiBella said.

Patel was exceptionally pleased about his lottery customer’s good fortune.  “I am so happy for Dan; he is one of my regular customers.  It was like watching history in the making,” Patel told lottery officials.  Patel is also a big winner for selling DiBella his $1,000,000 Jackpot top prize winning ticket—his store will receive a $10,000 bonus check from the CT Lottery