Jon Dulay, an auto body shop owner, won $250,000 playing Mega Millions, a draw game from Washington’s Lottery.

For the Auburn resident and father of three, the prize is a welcome surprise and fittingly, comes just in time for Christmas.

“This win couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Dulay, who bought the winning Mega Millions ticket last Friday at the AM/PM Mini Mart on Auburn Way North.

Dulay was on a break Monday when he stopped in the AM/PM to check the tickets he bought the week before.

“I put my ticket in the barcode reader and, at first, thought it said ‘$25.’ But then, I saw the extra zeros,” Dulay said. “I double- and triple-checked online, but still didn’t believe it was correct until the lottery officials told me.”

Dulay’s business partner and his wife made him prove the win was real by showing them the numbers from walottery.com.

“We play pranks and hoaxes on each other, so they didn’t believe me at first,” Dulay said with a laugh.

Before this, Dulay said the most he ever won from the lottery was $3 on a Scratch ticket.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d win this much,” he said.

When asked what he plans to do with the money, Dulay said, “We’re thinking about expanding our body shop, and the rest we’ll save for a rainy day.”

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Washington’s Lottery

Since 1982, Washington’s Lottery has generated more than $2.5 billion to important state programs, including education construction, stadium debt reduction, economic development and problem gambling prevention and treatment. At the direction of the 2010 Legislature, Washington’s Lottery will be the primary contributor to a number of state education programs such as state need grants, work study awards, and two merit scholarship programs. The state’s Lottery offers consumers several types of games: Mega Millions, Powerball, Lotto, Hit 5, Match 4, The Daily Game, Daily Keno and Scratch. For more information, visit www.walottery.com.