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Powerball Jackpot winner arrested:
Whittaker charged with DUI(Not again?!?)
Charleston Daily Mail ^
| Monday January 26, 2004; 10:00 AM
| From staff, wire reports
Posted on 01/27/2004 4:37:48 AM PST by apillar
After icy weather near Nitro forced Powerball multimillionaire Jack Whittaker off the road, the State Police say they found him drunk and slumped over the steering wheel of his dark green Cadillac.
Whittaker, who hit the $314.9 million Powerball jackpot on Christmas 2002, was charged Sunday with drunken driving.
Whittaker said he was on his way to Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center when he pulled off Interstate 64 near Nitro because ice was covering the roads.
“I’m nowhere near intoxicated,” Whittaker told WSAZ NewsChannel 3 Sunday as police escorted him into Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
But State Police Trooper B.R. Morris wrote in his report that Whittaker failed three field sobriety tests and registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.190, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.10.
Whittaker, a Scott Depot resident, apparently told police he had a drink of alcohol earlier Sunday, but that it had been awhile.
“I wasn’t driving . . . absolutely wasn’t driving,” Whittaker told WSAZ. “I was parked along the side of the road with no keys in the car. And they don’t have the right to arrest me for drunk driving if I don’t have that.”
In the report, Morris said he “attempted to wake the defendant up numerous times. Eventually he woke up and I asked him for his driver’s license.”
Morris also said, “The keys were in the ignition, and the vehicle was running.”
Whittaker was released after John K. Jarvis, a Charleston private investigator, posted a $150 cash bond, according to court records. Whittaker faces up to six months in jail and a $500 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor DUI charge.
The arrest was Whittaker’s second this year. He was arraigned Jan. 6 on charges of trying to hit and threatening to kill Todd Parsons, the manager of a St. Albans bar, after reportedly being banned from the establishment.
Whittaker faces up to six months in jail and a $100 fine if convicted on those charges.
Whittaker received a one-time, $113 million lump-sum lottery payment and spent $14 million establishing the Jack Whittaker Foundation, a nonprofit group that aims to help West Virginians find jobs, buy food or receive an education.
“It’s been a rough few weeks,” Whittaker told the television station on Sunday. “It doesn’t bother me because I can tell everyone to kiss off. But my wife, she’s having a hard time with it.
“I just keep on doing what I’m doing and tell everyone my personal life is my own business.”
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; US: West Virginia
KEYWORDS: dui; fustercluck; jackwhittaker; lottery; powerball; whittaker
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The saga of Jack Whittaker continues...
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1
posted on
01/27/2004 4:37:48 AM PST
by
apillar
To: apillar
It doesn’t bother me because I can tell everyone to kiss off. But my wife, she’s having a hard time with it.She may want to consider taking her half. This guy is a disaster.
To: PBRSTREETGANG
At the rate he's going, his wife is not gonna have to wait long. She'll end up w/ all of it.
3
posted on
01/27/2004 4:51:51 AM PST
by
sauropod
(What happens at CPAC stays at CPAC)
To: apillar
Hire a driver...
To: PBRSTREETGANG
Yeah, she should take her half and get the hell outta Dodge before they're sued jointly for this idiot's next misadventure.
5
posted on
01/27/2004 4:56:01 AM PST
by
martin_fierro
(Please direct all Quality Control complaints to Tijeras_Slim)
To: apillar
my personal life is my own business.Not when it is hazardous to others.
To: All
Some people just can't handle prosperity.
7
posted on
01/27/2004 5:04:06 AM PST
by
BipolarBob
(The voices in my head are starting to sound like Howard Dean YEEEAAAAGH)
To: sauropod
At the rate he's going, his wife is not gonna have to wait long. She'll end up w/ all of it. Exactly what I was thinking.
He's either going to die in a car accident (on his way home drunk from some titty bar, no doubt), or someone is going to kill him trying to get a share of that cash he's always "losing" out of his car.
And to think, I was so happy when I saw him claim his prize last year on television. He was going to give ten percent to the church, and he looked so attached to his wife, at the time.
It's too easy to say the money ruined him. Obviously he doesn't have the character to handle being a winner.
To: apillar
"Son... Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life."
9
posted on
01/27/2004 5:09:26 AM PST
by
IncPen
( What does it avail a man to gain a fortune and lose his soul?)
To: apillar
A walking advertisement for the phrase "money can't buy happiness".
10
posted on
01/27/2004 5:10:27 AM PST
by
rockprof
To: apillar
To: apillar
To: apillar
I met Mr. Whittaker several times back in the mid 1990's when I did some contract work at the state capital building. He was often coming in to apply for various permits. Mr. Whittaker was well off before he ever won the lottery, he owned one of the larger contracting firms in the area. He seemed really down to earth, just one of the "shoot the bull" down home country boy.
I think since his lottery win, Mr. Whittaker has fallen victim to the "Michael Jackson" syndrome. That is being contantly surrounded by admirers (they actually admire his money), he now lives in his own little world, where he is immortal and can do no wrong. He expects laws and community standards to conform to his views, not the other way around.
I think maybe a little jail time would actually do him good and might "shock" him back to reality. That will probably never happen though, as he can afford the best "justice" money can buy. It's a shame too, I think he is a decent person at heart. He will probably end up dead or in prison if he doesn't come back down to earth soon.
13
posted on
01/27/2004 5:23:18 AM PST
by
apillar
To: sauropod
Rather than being with his wife in a 1st class cabin on the QM2, he's slumming in West Virginia ginmills and strip clubs. And just last week he had $100,000 stolen from his car (before that, $500,000).
Yes, I think his wife will become a very rich widow in due course.
14
posted on
01/27/2004 5:50:57 AM PST
by
angkor
To: IncPen
"Son... Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life."
Tell that to Michael Moorer.
15
posted on
01/27/2004 7:08:45 AM PST
by
mlbford2
To: apillar
I pity da fool who isn't careful what they wish for. They might get it.
16
posted on
01/27/2004 7:10:20 AM PST
by
Johnny_Cipher
(Miserable failure = http://www.michaelmoore.com/ sounds good to me!)
To: angkor
he's slumming in West Virginia ginmills and strip clubs. He must have taking tips from Clinton.
To: Johnny_Cipher
Man. The dude is heading for a brick wall.
I feel sorry for the guy...kinda.. or would it be pity?
I've often wondered if I won money like that would I spiral down too? Soooo much free time.. I think I'd rather work, although winning a moderate sum (say 500,000 or so) would be nice-- I could start/buy my own business, and work for myself.
18
posted on
01/27/2004 7:21:07 AM PST
by
CygnusXI
(Where's that dang Meteor already?)
To: mlbford2
Tell that to Michael Moorer.Let's not forget Al Franken.
To: Always Right
Hire a driver...Yeah right! He should just pay one of those strippers $50 an hour or something.
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