$167 million Kentucky Lottery winner charged with kicking Florida police officer

 A Kentucky Powerball winner was arrested and charged with kicking a police officer in Florida days after he won a $167 million jackpot.

James S. Farthing, who goes by Shannon, found out Sunday that he won the state’s biggest ever jackpot after his mother called him, according to a media release from the Kentucky Lottery. The lottery said Farthing and his mother were splitting the winnings.

But Farthing, 50, was in a Florida jail by midweek, according to media reports. He has been charged with battery of a police officer and resisting arrest after a Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy was attempting to break up a fight between Farthing and another person in a hotel when Farthing kicked the officer in the face, according to a police report written Tuesday. The officer told Farthing to turn around put his hands behind his back, but Farthing attempted to flee, the police report said.

Farthing was booked into jail early Wednesday morning and remained in custody Friday, according to the county’s online jail records.

Online court records in Kentucky show Farthing has been arrested several times in recent years on various charges, including assault and domestic violence.

Farthing went to lottery headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday with his mother, Linda Grizzle, to claim their winnings.

The family was told they could take a cash option of $77.3 million or receive 30 graduated annual payments for the winnings. Lottery officials said the total was the largest Powerball jackpot ever won in Kentucky, topping a $128 million jackpot in 2009.