WEST DEPTFORD, NJ — When a lottery rep called John DiCarlo and told him someone at his bar won over $590,000, he knew something was awry.
It was from the Quick Draw game — a popular activity among patrons at Southwood Bar on Mantua Pike in West Deptford. Drawings take place every 4 minutes. And on the night of Dec. 8, a New Jersey Lottery rep informed DiCarlo that someone at his establishment won $590,170 that afternoon.
But something was fishy. Nobody at the bar that day indicated they were holding a big winner. Perhaps the lucky patron didn't want anyone knowing they secured a large sum of money, DiCarlo thought. Or perhaps they didn't realize they won and the ticket was discarded and possibly gone for good.
What ensued was a man's holiday-season journey of detective work, dumpster diving and rummaging through piles of garbage to reunite a life-changing slip of paper buried in chicken wing residue with its rightful owner.
"There were multiple people playing that day, so it took a little detective work to get it down to that individual and then take a chance — do I dive in that dumpster or not?" DiCarlo told Patch. "Because it may very well not be there."
A Jackpot Unbeknownst
With Quick Play, ticket-holders can select up to 10 numbers between 1 and 80. Twenty of those numbers are drawn every 4 minutes, and players can select their wagers and how many draws they want to play.
Most players at Southwood Bar only select one or two numbers, which yields a smaller prize. But you're far more likely to match a couple numbers than all 10.
Each ticket also features a second "Progressive" game underneath. For an extra fee, players can win a growing jackpot by matching all 10 numbers drawn. Bet $1, and you can win 10 percent of the prize. Bet $5, win 50 percent. Bet $10, win it all.
DiCarlo admits he didn't know about that part until his lottery rep called. That's when he learned that a patron bet $5 on the Progressive jackpot, which had been nearly $1.2 million.
Few people pay attention to it since winning it is so improbable," DiCarlo says.
"I called my bartender and said, 'Did anyone go jumping for joy?'" he said. "For most folks, that would be a significant, semi-life-changing event. And they're like, 'No, nothing."
DiCarlo and his wife Denise — the bar's co-owners — were in alignment. They were going do whatever it takes to find the ticket and give it to the winner.
But they didn't know who won.
A Mystery Unfolds
On that night, DiCarlo was skeptical. At first the lottery rep told DiCarlo that someone at his "store" had won. When DiCarlo said he had a bar, not a store, the rep said they mentioned "store" by mistake but insisted someone won at his business.
"I'm sitting there thinking, did someone quietly exit the bar knowing they won because they didn't want to publicize it?" DiCarlo said. "Did somebody possibly win and not know they won?"
DiCarlo, the former head of security for a chemical company, sprung into detective mode.
The jackpot was won at 3:16 p.m. that day. So DiCarlo examined his bar's security footage from that period.
He narrowed it down to a few people and then selected a possible patron. The footage showed that customer with a ticket folded over at the edge of the bar, which was later brought to the trash.
"I couldn't see in the cameras if it actually hit the trash or not," DiCarlo said. "But I though, if that's the ticket, they didn't claim it, and it's not in their wallet, there's a good chance that would be it."
Dumpster Diving
DiCarlo planned to search through his dumpster the following day. That morning, media outlets including Patch reported the winning ticket. DiCarlo's phone blew up with calls and texts when people heard the news, so he decided to rush to the bar earlier than planned.
He got into the dumpster, took out all 10 bags, put them in the back of his car, and took them home to search their contents in his garage.
Fortunately for DiCarlo, the bar changed its trash pickup day the week before from Thursdays to Mondays, meaning the dumpster had fewer bags than a typical Wednesday.
Less fortunately for DiCarlo, the dumpster lid popped open that night, so the bags were wet. Not only that, but the ticket was won on a Tuesday, when Southwood Bar has wing specials. And the trash in the dumpster reflected that.
DiCarlo took everything to his garage and rummaged through bags of chicken bones and wing sauce. But after searching through almost every bag, he had no luck.
"After going through those bags, it's etched in me now that we did pretty good on wing night," DiCarlo said. "So I was going through bleu cheese, and I ultimately found one ticket in the bottom of one of the bags. It was ripped in half, and it was drenched in hot sauce."
"I looked at the number," DiCarlo continued. "It didn't match. It was at the bottom of the bag, so I though, 'I don't know, maybe it's not in here.'"
Or, maybe he missed it.
Miracle On Mantua Pike
DiCarlo searched the contents two or three times before changing his gloves and deciding to get back in there.
"I lifted up a couple napkins at the bottom of a bag," he said. "I looked, and there's something balled up. I pulled it out. It was wet and messy. But I carefully brought it all out, and there were two or three tickets. I laid them out and looked, and sure enough one of them was the winner."
DiCarlo didn't know the winner personally, but he recognized him and managed to find his phone number.
He called the winner, who wished to remain anonymous, and asked the patron if he played the lottery the day before.
"Yeah, but I didn't win," the patron said.
"Not so fast," DiCarlo said.
DiCarlo explained what happened, including the dumpster dive, and told the patron he just won $590,000.
DiCarlo and his son Anthony — a manager at Southwood Bar — brought the winning ticket to the winner's house.
The winner appreciated their honesty, but DiCarlo says returning the ticket to its rightful owner was never a question.
"If you stick to your value system, you're not going to do wrong," DiCarlo said, "and integrity has always been one of our anchors."
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