Berlin Man Claims $1M Powerball Winnings

As you probably know, nobody won the jackpot in Saturday's Powerball drawing. However, 28 players in 15 states matched five of the six winning numbers. One of those was in Maryland.

Maryland Lottery officials say a Berlin father of four has stepped forward to claim his winnings. He's chosen to remain anonymous, but shared his story.

He told lottery officials he already bought one Powerball ticket in Delaware when he went to the grocery store to get a couple of limes. While his significant other waited in the car, he got those limes at a Berlin Food Lion and impulsively got a $6 Powerball ticket. That night, they watched the NFL playoff games until she went to bed.

The 51-year-old man, though, stayed up to watch the drawing.

"I checked my numbers, unfortunately, because I didn’t sleep well,” he said. “I was numb. I didn’t want to wake her up.”

He gave in at 4:30 a.m., sharing the news. He signed the ticket and put it in a safe until he could come to Baltimore to claim the prize. The winner, an HVAC worker, told lottery officials he plans to pay off his debts and his kids' college loans before figuring out what to do with what's left. He also has a ticket for Wednesday's drawing, which currently has a jackpot set at $1.5 billion.

Lottery officials say three Marylanders won $150,000 prizes, seven won $50,000 and, in all, 406,168 won prizes of $4 or more in Saturday's drawing.

You can hear Wednesday's drawing at 10:59 p.m. on WBAL NewsRadio 1090.