Encinitas Man Claims $10.2-Million Lottery Prize

After waiting eight days, a 69-year-old Encinitas resident finally cashed a Lotto ticket worth $10.24 million Thursday afternoon.

Russell Roy Thyret had purchased five Quick-Pick tickets at the Alpha Beta supermarket on El Camino Real in Encinitas. As a jackpot bonus, the store stands to earn $51,200, or 0.5% of Thyret’s prize, lottery spokeswoman Joanne McNabb said.

After deducting federal taxes, Thyret will receive $409,600 annually for 20 years. His winning numbers were 44-14-23-27-21-12.

Lottery officials had originally estimated Thyret’s ticket as worth $9.9 million but later realized that it was worth $10.24 million, McNabb said.

Thyret’s winnings were the second biggest of the month. On Dec. 13, a Santa Ana resident won $10.34 million. Both prizes, however, are a fraction of the state’s biggest prize, a pot worth $62 million won Oct. 29, 1988.

Winners occasionally wait and get financial advice before turning in their tickets, or sometimes they simply don’t notice that they’ve won, McNabb said. In any case, a winner has up to 180 days to cash a ticket.

Thyret, a 5-foot-11 man who enjoys plying the waters in his 51-foot boat, consulted with his bookkeeper and lawyer before claiming his prize. He said that he wanted “to keep publicity to a minimum.”

Fifty-three San Diego County residents have become millionaires through the lottery, with total winnings of $208 million, McNabb said.