PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (Scripps News Lexington/Court TV) — Newly released body camera video shows the winner of the largest Kentucky Powerball jackpot in history getting arrested just days after making history.
In April, James Farthing and his mother, Linda Grizzle, publicly claimed the record-breaking lottery win of $167 million in Kentucky.
Bodycam video from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office shows the April 29, 2025 arrest of James Farthing. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office via Scripps News Lexington)
The following evening, Farthing was arrested on battery charges in Pinellas County, Florida.
In newly-obtained body camera footage, deputies can be seen responding to an altercation at a hotel bar in St. Pete.
As a deputy arrests one of the men involved, Farthing is allegedly seen kicking the deputy in the face.
As the deputy finishes handcuffing the first man, he then approaches Farthing, and can be heard yelling, “Put your hands behind your back right now! Put your hands behind your back and get against the wall!”
When Farthing tries to run away, the deputy tasers him, and another deputy tackles him to the ground.
Moments later, a deputy can be seen questioning Farthing’s girlfriend, Jacqueline Fightmaster, who’s sitting on the ground in the hotel lobby.
“We came to the Kentucky Lottery in Louisville, and we claimed the check, which was $167 million,” Fightmaster is heard telling the deputy before she’s arrested for public intoxication.
Fathering was charged with one felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer and two misdemeanor counts of simple battery and resisting an officer, according to Fox News.
Farthing’s mother bonded him out of jail before he was extradited to Kentucky. Farthing was reportedly on parole in Kentucky when he was arrested in Florida. He was released from the Scott County Jail on June 22 for time served.
Farthing will be back in Florida in September for his case there.
According to the Kentucky Lottery, Farthing and his mother received their lottery winnings despite the events that followed.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Lexington, an E.W. Scripps Company.
