This has to be one of the wildest “day after” stories we’ve seen. Just hours after cashing in on the biggest Powerball win in Kentucky history — a jaw-dropping $167.3 million — 50-year-old James Farthing ended up in the back of a police car in Florida.
According to USA Today, bodycam footage from April shows Farthing being arrested at the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach. Police say he punched another hotel guest during an argument, tried to make a run for it, and then kicked a Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy in the face while they were trying to arrest him.
Farthing wasn’t alone in the drama — his girlfriend, Jacqueline Fightmaster, was also arrested. The wild part? This all went down the same day Farthing collected his winnings. Just one day earlier, he and his mom were smiling for cameras as they were announced as the lucky winners of the record-breaking jackpot (source).
Now, instead of laying low and enjoying his millions, Farthing is facing one felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer and two misdemeanor counts of battery and resisting an officer.
From celebrating with champagne to facing felony charges — this is one Powerball story nobody expected.
