Powerball Winner ARRESTED Again For The Unthinkable

Police officers restraining a person on a wet city street beside a truck — Photo: lev radin / Shutterstock

A $167 million Powerball winner was found asleep in a running car at Walmart before deputies booked him for public intoxication.

Story Snapshot

Deputies found James Farthing in a running Ford Mustang at a Georgetown Walmart lot.
Reports cite signs of intoxication: odor of alcohol and marijuana, slurred speech, poor balance.
Video reportedly undercut his claim that someone else drove him there.
This marked his fifth arrest since winning the lottery, according to multiple outlets.

Arrest At A Walmart Lot In The Early Morning Hours

Scott County deputies responded around 3 a.m. after a caller reported a white Ford Mustang sitting in an intersection, then moving into a Walmart lot in Georgetown, Kentucky. Officers approached the car and found James Farthing inside. The Mustang was still running. Deputies knocked on the window to wake him. Reports say Farthing appeared groggy and disoriented when he came to. He was then asked to step out so deputies could assess his condition and ensure public safety.

Officers described signs of impairment that they say matched public intoxication. Coverage based on the arrest citation lists the smell of alcohol and marijuana, bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred speech, and poor balance. Deputies determined he posed a danger to himself or others because he may have driven while under the influence, given the car’s movement from the intersection to the lot and its running engine. He was arrested and booked on a public intoxication charge at the Scott County Detention Center.

Competing Story And Reported Surveillance Footage

Farthing told deputies a woman had driven him to the Walmart and left him there, according to news summaries. Reporting says parking lot video did not show anyone exiting the Mustang after it parked, contradicting his account. That detail strengthened the deputy’s view that Farthing had likely operated the car. The charge filed, however, was alcohol intoxication in a public place, which does not require a driving finding and fits the observations on scene.

News outlets differ slightly on where Farthing was seated and the exact sequence from intersection to parking space. Some cite the passenger seat, others do not specify. Those differences matter more for a driving under the influence case than a public intoxication case. The state’s bar for public intoxication focuses on being impaired in a public place and posing a danger, which officers said they observed that night.

Why This Case Drew Outsized Attention

Farthing’s lottery past made a routine intoxication stop into a national headline. He won a $167 million Powerball prize years ago, and outlets framed this as his fifth arrest since that win. That pattern is newsworthy, but it can also blur the narrow legal question in this incident. The core facts here center on a running car at a Walmart, officer observations of impairment, and a public intoxication charge supported by those observations.

Kentucky Powerball winner and all-around idiot, James Farthing, has been arrested for public intoxication.

This is only the most recent arrest for Farthing, who won a $167.3 million Powerball in April of 2025.

He’s been arrested at least 2 other times since winning.

He’ll… pic.twitter.com/1N03923f29

— Kentucky Girl (@Kentuckygirl1) September 22, 2026

American conservative values favor equal treatment under the law, regardless of fame or fortune. Deputies answered a 3 a.m. call, found a running car, and made a judgment based on what they saw, smelled, and recorded. That is standard police work. If surveillance and a running engine suggested recent driving, officers had even more reason to act for public safety. A court will sort outcomes, but the field decision to prevent possible harm aligns with common sense.

How Public Intoxication Cases Often Work

Public intoxication charges often rest on the total picture an officer sees. Courts allow probable cause based on behavior, speech, balance, odors, and context. Chemical tests are not always part of these cases. A running car in a public lot at 3 a.m. plus slurred speech and odor can be enough to detain and charge for public intoxication. That is why a case without a reported breath or blood test can still move forward under state law and local practice.