Newly released body camera video showed the winner of a $167 million Powerball jackpot kicking a man as a deputy was detaining him. Though it is not entirely clear from the vantage point of the police video, the deputy quickly claimed that the lottery winner also struck him in the face.
“He f—ing kicked me in the face, he”s f—ing going,” the deputy said.
The deputy was quite livid; as he later returned to a sheriff’s office vehicle to get gloves, he yelled, “Motherf—er!” In the documents, police wrote about swelling and redness on the deputy’s face, specifically under his right eye.
The suspect got in more trouble when he tried to run away from the deputies and took a nasty fall as a deputy tackled him to the ground. He was clearly bleeding, with the floor streaked in red.
This incident occurred just two days after James Farthing, 50, got some life-changing luck. He and his mother won the Powerball in Kentucky. As previously reported, Farthing and his girlfriend, Jacqueline Fightmaster, 42, celebrated at the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida.
As seen on footage, the Pinellas County deputy arrived to find the second man, an Iowa resident, grappling with Farthing from behind on April 29. This man later told deputies that Farthing had hit him in the jaw and he himself was acting in self-defense.
Bleeding on the floor, Farthing voiced an apology after the deputy complained about getting kicked.
“Save your f—ing sorries for later!” the deputy said.
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The case against Farthing — for battery of a law enforcement officer, simple battery, and obstructing or resisting an officer without violence — is ongoing. He pleaded not guilty. Fightmaster pleaded no contest soon after the incident to misdemeanor disorderly intoxication, received a day of time served in jail, and was ordered to pay $570 in fines and fees.
As seen on footage, Fightmaster, who was sitting on the floor, told the deputy that “nothing” happened that night.
Authorities did not charge the second man in the fight.
