- A woman was accused of lying about winning the Powerball jackpot — the third largest ever won.
- Video footage showed her crying with joy at the Los Angeles store where the winning ticket was sold.
A woman who said she won the $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot was accused of lying by the granddaughter of the owner of the store where the ticket was sold, Daily Mail.com reported.
Sarai Palacios, the granddaughter of Nabor Herrera, who owns Las Palmitas Mini Market near Skid Row, Los Angeles, told the Mail that the woman hadn't won the jackpot.
"I'm not sure why she did that. I guess she just wanted to be on TV," Palacios said.
"We don't know who the winner is yet. They still haven't come forward," she added.
The California Lottery announced Thursday that the store had sold the winning ticket, which was the third-largest Powerball jackpot — and the sixth-largest US lottery jackpot — ever won.
A video shared by Inside Edition showed an unidentified woman entering the downtown store on Friday. The woman began crying and responded "yes" to a reporter who asked whether she'd bought the winning ticket before she abruptly exited the store and got into a car.
In the video, the woman could be heard saying, "I'm scared right now. I'm so scared." She hugged people in the store before adding, "I need to find him," and fleeing, according to the Daily Mail.
Herrera, who said he wasn't aware that his store had sold the winning ticket until he arrived there Thursday, told the outlet that he thought the woman's claim was "fake" because he didn't recognize her.
The store owner, who is set to receive $1 million for selling the ticket, told KCAL News that he planned to use some of the winnings to take his family on vacation.
The $1 billion winnings followed 38 consecutive draws where no one won the jackpot. Edwin Castro won a record $2 billion Powerball jackpot last year with a ticket purchased 13 miles from Herrera's store, the Mail reported.