GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX News) — Kentucky Powerball winner James Farthing was arrested early Sunday morning in Scott County after deputies say they found him intoxicated and asleep inside a running vehicle in a Walmart parking lot.
According to a citation from the Scott County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called around 2:57 a.m. on Sept. 20 after a citizen reported a white Ford Mustang with a temporary tag stopped in the middle of the intersection of Cherry Blossom Way and Connector Road in Georgetown.
The caller told dispatchers the vehicle later drove into the Walmart parking lot and parked near the electric vehicle charging stations.
When a deputy arrived, the citation states a white Mustang was found running near the charging area. Deputies say Farthing was asleep inside the vehicle and that no one else was present.
According to the citation, Farthing did not initially respond and woke up only after deputies repeatedly knocked on the vehicle.
The arresting deputy reported observing several signs of impairment, including the smell of alcohol and marijuana, bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred speech and difficulty maintaining balance.
Farthing told deputies a woman had driven him to the Walmart parking lot and left him there, according to the citation.
However, the citation states surveillance footage reviewed by another deputy showed the Mustang pull into the parking lot and that no one exited the vehicle before law enforcement arrived.
Deputies wrote in the citation that Farthing was "manifestly under the influence of alcohol" and posed a danger to himself or others due to the possibility of operating the vehicle while impaired.
Farthing was arrested around 4:04 a.m. and charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place. He was taken to the Scott County Detention Center.
The arrest is the latest in a series of encounters with law enforcement involving Farthing since he became well-known as the winner of a $167.3 million Powerball jackpot earlier this year.
In July, Farthing was arrested in Scott County on charges of first-degree strangulation and fourth-degree assault in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident. According to a criminal complaint, a woman reported that an argument following a boating trip became physical. Investigators documented visible injuries, and the woman told deputies the incident may have been captured on a Ring camera.
Farthing pleaded not guilty in that case. A judge set his bond at $15,000, ordered him to have no contact with the alleged victim and required him to wear a monitoring device designed to alert authorities if he came near her.
Since winning the Powerball jackpot, Farthing has had multiple reported encounters with law enforcement, including an arrest in Florida following an alleged hotel bar fight and several arrests or citations in Kentucky. One Fayette County case involving burglary and marijuana possession was later dismissed.
The public intoxication case is pending in Scott County District Court.
