A Detroit man has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for a smash-and-grab Rolex watch robbery at a Stamford jewelry store in November 2014.

Dajuhn Griffin, 20, of Detroit, Michigan, stole an SUV from a Stamford home and drove to Stamford Town Center, where they used hammers to break through a glass display case at Sidney Thomas Jewelers in the Stamford Town Center Mall and stole more than $250,000 worth of Rolex watches, officials said.

Griffin and two accomplices ran off, with security guards tailing them, according to federal prosecutors. Guards caught one accomplice, Richard Mathew Bailey, of Detroit, while he was trying to leave the mall.

Griffin was later arrested in Detroit and pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with commerce by robbery. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Bailey and the group's getaway driver, Brian Moore, 26, of Detroit, Michigan, also pleaded guilty to the same charge, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Griffin was sentenced to 51 months in prison. Moore was sentenced to 48 months in prison and Bailey has not yet been sentenced.

Federal authorities said they also arrested a fourth person, who has not yet been arraigned.

Temperatures will soar into the 50s for several days on end starting Sunday, and no major snowstorms are in the extended forecast.

A few snow showers moved through the state today and put down a dusting on some grassy surfaces, including in New Milford.

Most of the snow fell between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

This weekend will be great for snow sports at the local ski areas.

Saturday features a mix of sunshine and clouds with temperatures near 40.

Sunday will be warmer, near 50 degrees, with a blend of sunshine and clouds.

There can be a shower on Monday, with temperatures in the lower 50s.

The weather drys out on Tuesday with clouds and sunshine mixed. Highs will be near 50.

A wind-driven rain storm arrives Wednesday, especially in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures are expected to be well into the 50s.

Dry weather returns again on Thursday when it will be cooler, in the lower and middle 40s.

Ted Cruz's strategy to go after Donald Trump this early in the election may now be backfiring, NBC News reported.

With just days remaining before the Iowa caucuses, Cruz's campaign is facing a potentially consequential shift in momentum — one that could lift Trump to a caucus night victory and give Marco Rubio a significant boost heading into New Hampshire.

An NBC/WSJ/Marist poll released on Thursday showed an 11-point shift in Cruz's support from three weeks ago, moving Donald Trump from a 4-point deficit to a 7-point edge over Cruz. Rubio now has 18 percent of the likely caucus-goers' support — and Cruz's campaign went up on Iowa airwaves this week with an ad attacking Rubio on immigration.

A new Gallup poll shows Cruz's favorability rating among Republicans dropped nine percentage points to 55 percent, and his unfavorable rating rose seven percentage points.

A teacher at Central Men's Jail in Orange County, California, had a "significant role" in the planning of a jailbreak that set off a weeklong manhunt for three inmate fugitives, one of whom developed a relationship with the woman, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

The 44-year-old Lake Forest woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of accessory to a felony in helping the inmates escape from lockup in downtown Santa Ana. She allegedly provided the men with Google Earth maps of the jail complex, according to investigators.

Nooshafarin Ravaghi, who works for the Rancho Santiago Community College District, has been teaching English-as-a-second-language classes at the jail for about 18 months, according to the department. She is also an associate faculty member at Saddleback College, according to the Mission Viejo college's website.

Ravaghi's arraignment is scheduled for Monday. It was not immediately clear whether she obtained an attorney.

One of the escaped inmates, Hossein Nayeri, 37, of Newport Beach, took her class at the Central Men's Jail and developed a relationship with Ravaghi, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock.

"It was initially a student-teacher relationship, and then it developed into a closer relationship," Hallock said. "It is believed Ravaghi directly contributed to the escape of the three inmates and provided critical planning tools that aided in their preparation for the escape."

The exact nature of her alleged assistance was still being investigated, but she is believed to have provided information such as Google Maps to Nayeri, the alleged mastermind of the escape. Hallock said Ravaghi has denied providing Nayeri with any tools used in the escape.

"She played a significant role in the planning," Hallock said.

Hallock said the extent of the relationship Nayeri developed with Ravaghi was still unclear.

Ravaghi's job at the jail required a security clearance and a three-hour class for contracted employees. The class involved rules about inmates and "manipulation techniques" that inmates might use on employees, Hallock said. Contracted employees also are instructed to report whether any inmate requests information, Hallock added.

Tip Hotline: 714-628-7085 | Submit a Tip

Nayeri disappeared from the jail early Friday, along with Jonathan Tieu,  20, of Fountain Valley, and Bac Duong, 43, of Santa Ana. Duong surrendered to authorities Friday morning.

"We are continuing to be frustrated by this, but are continuing to work around the clock," Hallock said Friday.

OC sheriff's SWAT units raided two locations in Westminster Thursday  evening in a fruitless search for the three escapees, a news videographer reported from the scenes.

One of the locations, he said, was a business located at Jackson Street  and Westminster Boulevard and a reported hangout for some of the escapees. Nine people were at least temporarily detained at that location. The second raid, he said, took place in an industrial area at Garden Grove Boulevard and Hoover  Street.

No arrests or detentions were reported there.

Hallock said around 10 people have been arrested since the escape a week  ago Friday. Several other arrests — for unrelated warrants or probation issues — have also taken place during the manhunt. Hallock said investigators believe the escaped inmates stole a white GMC Savana utility van in the South Los Angeles area on Saturday, and the inmates may be living out of it.

Although only Duong was seen on Saturday with the van, "based on other  information we have we feel very strongly that they may still all three be together," Hallock said. The van has paper license plates from Felix Chevrolet, with plate number 8U66466, although the plates may have been removed and replaced.

The three inmates disappeared after a 5 a.m. body count in the jail, but they were not discovered missing until close to 9 p.m., when the second daily body count was conducted. Nayeri had been in custody since September 2014, Tieu  since October 2013 and Duong since December.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said Wednesday she suspects Nayeri was the "mastermind" of the breakout based on his military training in the U.S. Armed  Forces.

The search for the escaped inmates has focused heavily on a Vietnamese gang active in Westminster and Garden Grove.

On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors quadrupled the reward  for information that leads to the inmates' recapture, boosting it to $200,000. The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service pledged the initial $50,000.

Nayeri is accused of participating in an attack, including torture, against a Newport Beach resident who ran a licensed marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana. Tieu faces murder and attempted murder charges in connection with a gang hit. Duong faces an attempted murder charge and was being held without  bail on an immigration hold pending a possible federal deportation hearing.

State police have made an arrest in an animal abuse case after finding a starving dog chained up outside in Oxford and suffering from fly strike-- a condition found on dogs left outside.

Police responded to the 200 block of Governors Hill Road in Oxford just after 2:30 on Friday, Jan. 22 after receiving an anonymous call about a German shepherd dog that was being neglected and they found a thin, unkempt dog with patchy fur, according to police.

He was tied with a 5-foot-long leash and there was no food or water in sight, police said.

"If you leave dogs out, this is a summertime problem," Dr. Cheryl Sackler of the Beacon Falls Animal Hospital said about fly strike. "All the little gnats and flies chew on the tips of the ears."

The person who contacted police said the dog was always tied up and left outside, even in extremely cold weather, and neighbors can hear the dog dropping his food bowl on the ground over and over, police said.

The state trooper and the Oxford Selectman Jeff Haney took the dog and brought him to the Beacon Falls Animal Hospital and the veterinarian determined that the dog had been starved and neglected.

Aside from being 20-25 pounds underweight, the dog had various medical issues to included damaged ears and heart worms.

State police found the dog’s owner, Jonathon Foster, 26, and charged him with cruelty to animals, tethering and confining a dog for an unreasonable period of time, failure to license and failure to vaccinate.

He is scheduled to appear in Derby Superior Court at 9:30 a.m. on March 3.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said the dog had frost bite but we have since learned the dog suffered from fly strike instead. 

An American Airlines flight from Brazil to Miami was diverted Friday after a passenger and three flight attendants complained of lightheadedness, according to the airline.

It's the second incident of its kind in as many days.

Flight 904, which departed Rio de Janeiro with 203 passengers and 14 crew members on board, landed safely in Brazil's capital and was met by paramedics. The passengers and crew were evaluated by medical staff, but none sought further medical treatment, an airline spokesperson said.

The flight was canceled "out of an abundance of caution" and passengers were booked onto other flights, the airline said.

Maintenance crews are inspecting the aircraft and performing a maintenance check.

It's the second incident of its kind this week. An American Airlines flight from London to Los Angeles was also diverted Wednesday under similar circumstances.

American Airlines Flight 109 from Heathrow to LAX doubled back after a "medical emergency" occurred on board, airline officials said. Two passengers and several crew members also complained of lightheadedness during the flight.

According to The New York Times, such symptoms have been linked in the past to contaminated cabin air, known as aerotoxic syndrome.

No maintenance issues were found on Flight 109, but the plane's air filters were changed as a precaution, the airline said.

It is unclear in either incident what caused passengers and crew to become ill.

Clinton police have arrested a man accused of stealing jewelry and coins from acquaintances, including one he was dog sitting for.

Michael McAllister, 56, of Clinton, turned himself in at Clinton Police department just after noon on Friday.

Police started investigating when the residents reported items missing from their homes and obtained warrants for McAllister, who is accused of stealing jewelry and coins and selling them at a local coin and gold buyer.

He had been dog sitting for one victim and it’s not clear how he knew the other, according to police.

McAllister was charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree larceny.

Bond was set at $500 and he is due in Middletown Superior court on Feb. 11.

America’s efforts to rebuild a stable Afghanistan could be headed for failure, according to a report released on Friday.

According to the quarterly report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the U.S. has spent more than $113 billion on reconstruction and will require troops to stay longer than President Obama expected, NBC News reported. 

The report says the country’s economy is weakening and there are allegations of fraud surrounding the effort to get more girls into the classroom.

The Taliban controls more territory now compared to the time American troops invaded in 2001. Nearly 30 percent of the country is controlled by the Taliban, according to the military's figures.  

Police are investigating a series of car break-ins in Berlin and they are asking for residents to lock their cars to stop the thieves.

“Generally, Berlin is a safe community, but they can’t be that trusting,” Lt. Chris Ciuci, of the Berlin Police Department, said.

Locking cars and removing the keys from them is the easiest way residents can prevent car break-ins and thefts, police said.

“These are crimes of opportunity and we’re asking members of our community to help us in making themselves harder targets,” Lt. Chris Ciuci, of the Berlin Police Department, said.

Police are investigating four car break-ins on Wednesday night or Thursday morning in the East Berlin section of town, near Sprucebrook Road and Beckley Road, and two car thefts.

One vehicle stolen was a 2011 White Infiniti G25 with Connecticut license plate 861XMC. The other is a 2016 White Subaru Outback with Landry Communications written on it. It has the license plate AB72605.

All of the cars were unlocked or the keys were inside, police said.

“The criminals are targeting unlocked cars for the valuables inside that they can pawn or sell on the street,” Ciuci said. “That’s what they’re looking for, but in the process if they find the keys to the vehicles in the car, they’re taking the car.”

While some residents admitted to leaving their cars unlocked, some said they would never think of it. 

“I think it’s kind of silly of the people to leave their cars unlocked like that. You should lock your car take your keys and all your valuables. Leave nothing exposed,” George Ludko, of Berlin, said.

Police are looking into whether the Wednesday night break-ins are connected.

Sheriff's officials said Friday that all three escaped inmates were spotted in the San Jose area, likely using the white GMC van that was stolen from South Los Angeles last Saturday.

A manager at the Alameda Motel in San Jose on Friday said he believed all three inmates stayed at his motel on Tuesday and Wednesday, before leaving Thursday morning.

One of them, Bac Duong, 43, of Santa Ana, apparently made it back to the Santa Ana area on his own, and he surrendered to authorities Friday morning, said Orange County Sheriff's Department Lt. Jeff Hallock.

After Duong was captured, sheriff's deputies surrounded a used car dealership near the site of the arrest. Aerial video showed law enforcement officers with guns drawn in the lot, looking into vehicles and large sheds on the Tripoli Auto Sales property.

It was not immediately clear whether authorities believe the remaining two fugitives are on the lot, but no additional arrests were reported early Friday afternoon.

Duong disappeared from the Central Men's Jail early Jan. 22, along with Jonathan Tieu,  20, of Fountain Valley, and Hossein Nayeri, 37, of Newport Beach.

Duong was taken into custody Friday after he approached someone on a Santa Ana street and asked to contact police, said OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens. Le Tran told NBC4 News that he saw Duong smoking a cigarette as he waited for authorities to arrest him at the Tran family's Auto Electric Rebuilders shop on Harbor Boulevard. He said he does not know how Duong got to the shop, but that his sister knew Duong and might have visited him while he was in jail.

Duong was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. Friday, Hutchens said. She did not provide details regarding the encounter with the "civilian," but authorities confirmed Duong was located in the 1400 block of North Harbor Boulevard.

Nayeri had been in custody since September 2014, Tieu  since October 2013 and Duong since December.

Duong allegedly shot a man Nov. 18, 2015 after an argument on the patio of a Santa Ana home. He was charged with one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of assault with a firearm, one felony count of first-degree residential burglary, one felony count of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or house, one felony count of assault with a firearm with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a firearm, personal discharge of a firearm and great bodily injury.

He was being held without bail on an immigration hold pending a possible federal deportation hearing.

Duong also faces sentencing enhancements for a prior strike conviction for first-degree burglary in 1995 in San Diego County, prior prison convictions for second-degree burglary in 2007, reckless evading of a peace officer in 2008 and possession for sale of a controlled substance in 2011. Prior to the escape, Duong was scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Feb. 8.

The arrest comes after news of a teacher at Central Men's Jail in Orange County, who had a "significant role" in the planning of the jailbreak. The 44-year-old Lake Forest woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of accessory to a felony in helping the inmates escape from lockup in downtown Santa Ana.

She allegedly provided the men with Google Earth maps of the jail complex, according to investigators. One of the escaped inmates, Nayeri, took her class at the Central Men's Jail and developed a relationship with her, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock.

Tip Hotline: 714-628-7085 | Submit a Tip

Hallock said around 10 people have been arrested since the escape a week  ago Friday. Several other arrests — for unrelated warrants or probation issues — have also taken place during the manhunt. Hallock said investigators believe the escaped inmates stole a white GMC Savana utility van in the South Los Angeles area on Saturday, and the inmates may be living out of it.

The van has paper license plates from Felix Chevrolet, with plate number 8U66466, although the plates may have been removed and replaced.

The three inmates disappeared after a 5 a.m. body count in the jail, but they were not discovered missing until close to 9 p.m., when the second daily body count was conducted. The made their way to the rooftop, then rappelled down about six stories.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said Wednesday she suspects Nayeri was the "mastermind" of the breakout based on his military training in the U.S. Armed  Forces.

The search for the escaped inmates has focused heavily on a Vietnamese gang active in Westminster and Garden Grove.

On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors quadrupled the reward  for information that leads to the inmates' recapture, boosting it to $200,000. The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service pledged the initial $50,000.

Nayeri is accused of participating in an attack, including torture, against a Newport Beach resident who ran a licensed marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana. Tieu faces murder and attempted murder charges in connection with a gang hit. Duong faces an attempted murder charge and was being held without  bail on an immigration hold pending a possible federal deportation hearing.

A man suspected of driving up to two high school students at a bus stop in West Hartford and masturbating earlier this month has been arrested in connection with a separate case in June 2015 near William H. Hall High School.

Nicholas Webb, 32, was arrested after police said he drove up to two juveniles on Richard Street and South Quaker Lane in January and told the victims they were "beautiful" as he masturbated, the juveniles told West Hartford police.

Police have now charged him in a case from June 11, 2015. The victim told police that the window of Webb's black Acura sedan was down when he approached her and began speaking with her and he was masturbating.

He has been charged with risk of injury and impairing morals and second-degree breach of peace.

Bond was set at $50,000.

Police said they believe he has been involved in other incidents and ask people with information to cal West Hartford Police at 860-523-5203.

In 2010, Webb was convicted for risk of injury stemming from a New Britain arrest. 

A bullet hole was found in the window of a jury room at the courthouse in Bridgeport on Thursday night and state police are investigating what happened.

Police were called to the courthouse around 6 p.m. on Thursday and said the court was closed and no one was in the room.

Police are not sure when the window was shot.

Western District’s major crimes unit is investigating.

The Port Authority says the surprise strike staged by thousands of longshoremen Friday is over.

The workers had walked off the job at Port Authority terminals in New York and New Jersey Friday afternoon, all but shutting down one of the nation's busiest port networks.

The Port Authority said in a tweet that full operations were being restored Friday evening, "thanks to the expedient efforts" of the unions involved. Gates will open as scheduled on Feb. 1.

Members of the International Longshoremen's Association, one of the primary rank-and-file unions at the ports in New York City and New Jersey, stopped working about 10 a.m., according to the Port Authority. The stoppage affected all of the terminals in the port system, which receives nearly 30 percent of all cargo on the East Coast.

A spokesman for the union said the walkout took many union officials by surprise. Another union official told NBC 4 New York the strike was spurred by a bevy of grievances including concerns about the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor's role in collective bargaining, regulations on time off after injuries and drug testing protocols.

Several workers told NBC 4 New York they didn't know the strike was happening when they went to work on Friday and they were awaiting instruction on what to do next. The walk-off appeared to be organized and peaceful, however. 

In a statement issued after the strike ended, NYSA said the walkout was "extremely disruptive and in violation of the NYSA-ILA Collective Bargaining Agreement." 

An emergency contract board meeting held in the afternoon resulted in a deadlock. An arbitrator found the strike was in violation of the workers' contract and ordered the ILA to inform its members, according to NYSA.

During the discussions, the ILA and NYSA agreed to continue talking about outstanding issues like jurisdiction, hiring and technology. 

Affected terminals include Port Newark, the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal, Port Jersey in Bayonne, Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island, and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood.

Gridlock was reported near port access points, with hundreds of truckers idling at the gates or inside the terminals. One trucker, Kennedy Twaits, said he was losing a day of work from the stoppage.

"Yeah, A lot of money I lost," he said. "Not only me. Everybody loses money here."

It's not clear how the work stoppage has affected cargo ships.

The Port Authority said in a statement earlier Friday afternoon that police were working to keep people safe, and urged ILA members to "

"As the agency that oversees the largest port complex on the East Coast, we strongly urge the ILA members to return to work immediately and resolve their differences after they return. In the meantime, Port Authority Police are actively working to ensure public safety for all of the stakeholders at the port," the authority said.

-- Pei-Sze Cheng contributed to this report.

A post on Craigslist advertising "smokeable anxiety and depression relief" led to the arrest of a Middletown man, police said.

Daniel Guerino Demelis, 21, is accused of sale of a controlled substance after police said Demelis sold drugs to undercover officers four different times in January.

Middletown Police and Connecticut State Police started the investigation when they came across the ad.

The post read:

 “INSTANT ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION RELIEF**-$420 (MIDDLETOWN)
I HAVE SMOKABEL 420 ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION RELEIF ALWAYS OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY, ALSO GOT NON SMOKABLE REMEDIES AVAILABLE- CONTACT ME, DJ, AT ANY TIME CALL OR TEXT @ 860-***-****. Happy Holidays”

Police were able to determine that "DJ" was Demelis.

Demelis had court schedule on Jan. 29 and was held on a $50,000 bond. 

There is an ongoing investigation into severe damage done to New Britain stadium months before the then Rock Cats finished their move to Hartford before becoming the Yard Goats.

While an investigation is underway to look for who is responsible, the city is the one footing the bill.

Erin Stewart, the mayor of New Britain said, "We're really disappointed. My job is to protect the assets, the stadium is a great asset to the city."

Stewart said the damage included missing hot water tanks from all of the skyboxes, lights ripped off the walls, punched in walls, cut wires and tampering with connections to the scoreboard.

"We're not really sure why this would happen. The only people that would have access to the rooms where this type of damage that happened were those that were the key holders," Stewart said. "And at that time it was not the New Britain bees I can assure you that much"

According to police, video surveillance footage of the incidents is also being investigated.

"There are camera systems so I'm certain that that will prove to tell us who did that, or is it the fact that someone knew weren't the cameras weren't and did them," Stewart said.

Yard Goats' general manager, Tim Restall, strongly fought back against the notion from the mayor that then Rockcats staff may have been responsible:

"She's disparaging our hard working staff, accusing them of vandalizing New Britain Stadium. These charges are blatantly false and unfair to those who have worked so hard in the City, many for several years."

New Britain Police have not accused the then-Rock Cats staff of the damage and said  the investigation continues.

In addition to the vandalism accusations, Stewart is also seeking payment from the Yard Goats for $149,317 in outstanding utility bills from their lease at New Britain Stadium.

Tim Restall confirmed that the Yard Goats are not late in the utility payments and will fulfill their obligations under their lease with the city of New Britain.

Stewart said the New Britain Bees, who will play their first game at the stadium in late April, have paid for repairs to the offices, but that the city will pay for the rest of the repairs. She's estimating those repairs to be at least $10,000.
 

A Chaplin man has been arrested in connection with a child pornography investigation, Connecticut State Police said. 

William H. Lake, 44, of Chaplin, was arrested in connection to an investigation of crimes against a 5-year-old victim. 

Police said Lake was in possession of inappropriate pictures of the 5-year-old. 

Lake is accused of employee a minor in an obscene performance, possession of child pornography and risk of injury to a minor. He is being held on a $750,000 bond. 

It was not immediately clear if Lake had an attorney.

Earlier this week top administrators in some of Connecticut's urban school districts testified in court about teacher shortages.

Schools struggle to replace teachers who leave in the middle of the school year.

One city that doesn't seem to have the problem is New Haven, where with 1800 teachers in 48 public schools, superintendent of schools Garth Harries has only about 30 vacancies.

"I think we could easily have a lot more vacancies, absolutely," he said. "But that said for every parent who's got a kid in a classroom that doesn't have a permanent teacher in it, that's a serious issue."

Math, science and special education teachers are the most difficult to replace. Retention is difficult if a teacher becomes dissatisfied with work conditions.

"Work conditions can mean different things," said Harries. "It may be the particular school environment. We try and be attentive to the school environment, make sure principals have good relationships with teachers and can identify teachers who may be close to burning out."

Retaining teachers is one thing, attracting teachers another. Harries said maybe the schools should over hire to be able to replace teachers who leave.

He said if a teacher isn't performing up to standards and decides to leave, he'll live with that.

Tonight's Yale men's ice hockey game against Union College is billed as a white-out, with fans wearing white in memory of Mandi Schwartz, a Yale women's ice hockey player who died from AML, a form of leukemia.

While the women's team was beating Brown University this afternoon, fans could purchase white out shirts and sweatshirts to benefit the Mandi Schwartz Foundation.

Aleca Hughes, former team captain, said, "They are all white so people at Ingalls Rink supporting the team will be in uniform white for Mandi honoring her life and legacy."

She and the foundation have raised tens of thousands of dollars.

"It's grown every year and two years ago we had the St. Louis Blues here, this year we're doing it back to back with the men's hockey team."

Mandi Schwartz memorabilia fills part of a display case inside the lobby of the rink. Before she died in 2011 her illness led to bone marrow drives at Yale that identified six donors for other patients awaiting transplants. People can donate money to the foundation by participating in an auction at the hockey rink.

"The auction items are very impressive if you're looking for a gift for a young inspiring hockey player- signed jersey, signed stick all that good stuff."

Someone out there must be kicking themselves.

An employee at a grocery store in Falls Church, Virginia, hadn't meant to buy a Cash4Life ticket -- but he won $7 million after a customer didn't want it.

Michael Donnelly of Woodbridge was ringing up Powerball tickets for customers at the Harris Teeter store in Columbia Pike when he accidentally hit a wrong button, Virginia Lottery officials said. Instead of generating a Powerball ticket, he accidentally generated a Cash4Life ticket.

The customer didn't want it, so Donnelly ended up buying the ticket himself.

That mistake made him a big winner.

Donnelly's ticket matched all six numbers in the Cash4Life drawing Jan. 7, lottery officials said. He had the option to accept $1,000 per day for the rest of his life or take a one-time payout of $7 million before taxes. He chose the cash, and on Friday, he posed with his big check.

"It still hasn't hit me yet," he told lottery officials.

Donnelly didn't know right away he had won. He checked the ticket days after the drawing when a store customer said she had heard a winning ticket had been sold at the store. He checked the numbers and called his wife.

“If that’s true, you have to come home because I’m about to have a heart attack!” she replied, lottery officials said.

Donnelly is Virginia's first top-prize winner in the Cash4Life game, which is played in six states. The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 21.8 million.

 Two students walking to Second Hill Lane Elementary School in Stratford were being followed yesterday morning, police confirmed.

Stratford Police are looking for the man who may have followed the two girls in an older silver Honda SUV with a black brush guard, roof rack and Connecticut plates. 

The students said they spotted the suspect following them after 7:15 am, police said.