Paul Sakuma / Associated Press
Sonoma couple shares $75.7 million lottery win
By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
source
Published: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 2:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 2:46 p.m.
A Sonoma County couple who won $75.7 million in a multi-state lottery said Tuesday they hadn’t decided how they would spend the money but planned to donate some of it to the families of four slain Oakland police officers.
Anneliese Hansen and Brian Cabaud, both Marin County sheriff’s deputies, said in a news conference at a lottery office in Hayward they were “overwhelmed” by their good fortune, which came after buying tickets at a Mill Valley gas station.
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Cabaud before a bank of TV cameras and microphones. “It’s surreal.”
The two said they played the lottery occasionally when jackpots exceeded $100 million. Their winning ticket was purchased Friday at a Chevron station in Mill Valley.
Both were on duty Saturday when Cabaud learned they had won. They met up at the gas station, asked the clerk to check the ticket and then hugged each other. Hansen was in uniform and Cabaud was not.
“I just stood there and she kind of jumped up and down a little,” Cabaud said.
The winning combination in the Mega Millions jackpot was 9, 16, 24, 40 and 43. The mega number was 35. The couple said they had plunked down $30 on Quickpick.
Cabaud is 31. Hansen would not give her age except to say she wasn’t old enough to rent a car, which would inidcate she is not yet 25. They live together in the town of Sonoma, according to records.
They said they grew up in unincorporated Marin County. Cabaud said he graduated from Novato High in 1995 and was a mechanic and ambulance company employee before going to the police academy in Santa Rosa and taking a deputy job in Marin about four years ago.
Hansen said she had been with the department about two years. They met on the job shortly after she was hired. She jokingly described Cabaud as “my mechanic and we live together.”
They said they are taking vacation time off work and would likely go to Disneyland. Hansen said she might splurge on a car to relace her 1996 Toyota Camry, but had made no firm decisions.
“I’m getting a Volvo,” said Hansen, who goes by Lise.
“I’m a Ford guy,” Cabaud said.
They said they had 60 days to decide if they would take a lump sum payment or spread the money out over 26 years. Under the annuity plan, they would get more than $2 million a year before taxes, a lottery official said.
If they select the cash option they will each receive about $24 million before federal taxes.
The gas station owners will get a separate prize of $375,000 for selling the winning ticket.
“We very much hope to keep our lives as normal as possible,” Cabaud said.
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