A woman won $10 million after pressing the wrong button on a lottery machine at a Tarzana supermarket last year, state lottery officials announced Wednesday.
LaQuedra Edwards put $40 into a Scratchers vending machine at a Vons in Tarzana back in November 2021. While she was about to start selecting which games she wanted, she said “some rude person” bumped into her, according to a news release from the California Lottery, which doesn’t immediately reveal the identity of winners for privacy reasons.
That person’s bump caused her to accidentally push the wrong number on the machine, she said.
A $30 200X Scratchers ticket came out of the machine and Edwards said she had no intention of buying it.
“He just bumped into me, didn’t say a thing and just walked out the door,” Edwards recalled.
She remembers being irritated, not only because the person bumped into her, but also because she’d just spent 75% of her lottery money on one ticket, rather than her usual selection of cheaper-priced options.
“Once she was in her car, she started scratching the $30 ticket – the one she was literally pushed into buying – and discovered she’d just won the game’s top prize of $10 million,” the state Lottery said.
“I didn’t really believe it at first, but I got on the 405 Freeway and kept looking down at [the ticket], and I almost crashed my car,” Edwards told state lottery officials. “I pulled over, looked at it again and again, scanned it with my [California Lottery mobile] app, and I just kept thinking this can’t be right.”
Edwards said she is going to use her winnings to buy a house and start a nonprofit organization.
“I’m still in shock,” she added. “All I remember saying once I found out how much I just won was, ‘I’m rich!’”
The Vons store where Edwards “accidentally” won her fortune got a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.