Powerball Winner Behind Bars For Battering Cop

MAY 1--Days after claiming a $167.3 million Powerball jackpot, a Kentucky man is behind bars, charged with kicking a cop in the face during a melee at an oceanfront hotel in Florida, The Smoking Gun has learned.

According to court records, James Farthing, a 50-year-old ex-convict, was arrested Tuesday evening on felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with a fracas at the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach.

Farthing was at the resort with Jacqueline Fightmaster, his 42-year-old girlfriend. As seen in the above photo, Farthing and Fightmaster appeared Tuesday at a Kentucky Lottery press conference announcing the Powerball win (which Farthing is splitting with his 77-year-old mother).

Farthing, who won the April 26 Powerball drawing, purchased the winning ticket from Clark’s Pump-N-Shop in Georgetown, a city 15 miles north of Lexington.

On Tuesday evening--one day after posing with an oversized “Jackpot Winner” check--Farthing punched a male victim in the face during an argument at the TradeWinds, cops say. Subsequent to that alleged battery, a sheriff’s deputy sought to break up “an in progress fight between [Farthing] and another patron.”

While interceding in the brawl, Deputy Nicholas Areostatico reported being “kicked in the face” by Farthing. After reviewing body worn camera footage, Areostatico stated he, “observed the defendant winding up his right leg kicking your affiant in the face in an attempt to injure and or incapacitate myself.”

In an arrest affidavit, Areostatico said the kick caused him “pain in my face” and resulted in “swelling and redness” under his right eye.

After being kicked, the deputy ordered Farthing to turn around and place his hands behind his back. “The defendant refused to do so and attempted to flee on foot out of the hotel,” a police report states.

Simultaneously, Fightmaster was “actively engaging in argument involving other guests and her boyfriend” and was trying to, true to her name, “fight the other patrons at the bar.” Busted for causing a disturbance, Fightmaster “appeared very intoxicated and was yelling, screaming, and making incoherent statements.”

Farthing was booked into the county jail early Wednesday morning for battery on a law enforcement officer, a felony, and two misdemeanor counts.

While bond has been set at $10,000 on the felony rap, Farthing remains behind bars due to a Kentucky felony warrant charging him with a parole violation. Farthing’s supervision by the Kentucky Department of Corrections began in September 2023 and was scheduled to end in late-August 2025.

Farthing’s rap sheet includes convictions for theft; receiving stolen property; escape; drug trafficking; promoting contraband; tampering with physical evidence; and engaging in an organized criminal syndicate. (4 pages)