Paterson man comes forward as $1M Powerball ticket winner

While the sole winning Powerball jackpot ticket wasn’t sold in the Garden State, lottery officials confirmed that two $1 million tickets were sold in the state.
Juan Mendez, of Paterson, came forward Thursday morning as one of those winners.
Mendez said he bought the winning ticket at W & R Mini Market and Deli on Nagle Street in Paterson 10 minutes before the store was set to close at 9 p.m. He told News 12 New Jersey that he bought a total of three tickets.
The winning numbers of Wednesday’s drawing were 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, and the Powerball number is 4. One of Mendez’s tickets matched all five of the white balls. The odds of winning that prize? One in 11,688,053.52.
Mendez said he plans to use his winnings to help his family and pay some bills.
"I wanted to make something good for my family. I was thinking about other things like my mother and buy her a house and try to get a better life for my family," Mendez said.
The owner of W & R Mini Market and Deli will also receive some money from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.
New Jersey Lottery officials said a second $1 million winning ticket was sold at L and K Petroleum on Route 47 in Dorchester, Cumberland County. 
In addition, 26 tickets sold in the Garden State matched four white balls and the Powerball drawn, winning the $50,000 prize.
Meanwhile, the single winning ticket for the $758.7 million jackpot was sold in Chicopee, Massachusetts. A 53-year-old Massachusetts hospital worker came forward to claim the prize.