Austin resident wins $1M from scratch-off ticket

An Austin resident claimed a $1 million prize from a scratch-off ticket last week, officials with the Texas Lottery said.

Spring Food Mart at 13125 Pond Springs Road in Northwest Austin, near the intersection of Cahill Drive and Pond Springs Road, sold the lucky ticket to the winner, who has chosen to remain anonymous.

The winning ticket was part of a Texas Lottery game called 50X The Cash, and the prize was claimed June 22, lottery officials said. Two more $1 million prizes have not been won yet in the 50X game, lottery officials said.

Spring Food Mart owner Sameer Umatiya, whose store stands to receive $10,000 as well, hopes the winner doesn’t stay anonymous for long.

The food mart sold another $1 million winning lottery ticket to a school teacher about four years ago, Umatiya said, and it was exciting for him to know who was so lucky.

“I was very happy that the school teacher got the money, you know,” Umatiya said. “I’m always happy that somebody in our community or school teachers get awarded like that.”

The store was notified that they sold the winning ticket on Monday.

“Somebody called me and said, ‘Hey somebody won like $1 million from your store.’ I said, ‘Really?’ ” Umatiya said.

Umatiya said the opportunity to receive $10,000 for selling the winning ticket is not as important as his customers. “I’m happy — I hope more and more people win,” he said.

A fire in North Austin early Tuesday caused roughly $25,000 in damage to at least two buildings, Austin fire officials said. No injuries were reported. Firefighters responded around 4 a.m. Tuesday to the intersection of Hancock Drive and Bull Creek Road, where a fire had started in a small shed, officials said.

The fire spread to two nearby buildings in the 2800 block of Hancock Drive.

The businesses were closed at the time of the fire, which caused $20,000 in damage to one building and $5,000 in damage to another, fire officials said.

The cause was still being determined, officials said.

Authorities arrested more than 170 people throughout Travis County on drunken driving charges during Memorial Day weekend and the Republic of Texas Biker Rally — an 8.3 percent drop from last year, according to data obtained from the Travis County sheriff ’s office.

A total of 177 people were charged with driving while intoxicated, 16 fewer people than in 2017, the data shows. The numbers include arrests by more than 30 local, state and federal agencies that booked suspects into the Travis County Jail.

Of the arrests, 93 were made during Memorial Day weekend and 84 were made while the ROT Rally was in town June 7-11.

Last year, 109 people were arrested during Memorial Day weekend and 84 were arrested during the rally.

The arrests also were made during Austin police’s no-refusal initiative from May 24 to June 11, which gave officers the ability to quickly obtain a search warrant for a suspected drunk driver’s sample if they refused to submit to a blood alcohol test.

Austin police said they arrested 164 people on driving while intoxicated charges during the two-week no-refusal period, including the ROT Rally and Memorial Day in 2017.