Record lottery winner arrested on DUI, weapons charges
West Virginian carrying $117,000 in cash at time of latest incident
Wednesday, December 1, 2004 Posted: 11:32 PM EST (0432 GMT)



CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- A man who won a record $315 million in the Powerball lottery was taken to jail on charges of drunken driving and carrying a pistol, authorities said.

Jack Whittaker, 57, was arrested Tuesday night after his Hummer struck a concrete median on the West Virginia Turnpike near Beckley.

Senior Trooper M.J. Pinardo reported that he smelled alcohol, but Whittaker refused sobriety tests and was "extremely belligerent." Troopers also said they found a small pistol in Whittaker's boot and he was carrying $117,000 in cash.

Whittaker, who was alone, complained of back pain. He was treated at a hospital, and then jailed early Wednesday.

Whittaker was released after he was arraigned and posted $1,700 bail. Besides the DUI and weapons charge, he was charged with failure to maintain control of his vehicle and failure to submit to a breath test.

It was the latest in a series of incidents involving Whittaker since he took home, in 2002, the largest single jackpot ever.

Whittaker's vehicle, business and home have allegedly been broken into multiple times.

The body of 18-year-old Jesse Joe Tribble was found at Whittaker's home in September. Tribble's death was not a crime and Whittaker was out of town at the time.

Whittaker also faces charges of assaulting and threatening a manager at a bar in January.

__________________
Jennifer
90 350sdl

Try calculating how long it took the interest on the money, even sitting in a savings account, covered his bail.

Well Money can't buy class....

Didn't Work with John Kerry and terresa Hienz................

Didn't work with that guy either.................

Once Trailer trash , always trailer trash.................

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

All that money and all he bought was a Hummer?

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I remember him on TV immediately after winning, he appeared a nice, regular guy already with sufficient money from owning a construction company. I am not willing to judge from the scant info given on this board. I do think that I have not won because God knows I would get into much more trouble than a DUI.

regards.

So he got a DUI, so what. He got caught making a bad judgement. He will have to pay like anyone else. No money doesn't buy happiness. But it is a good crutch.

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The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!

. . . nah, this one's too easy . . .

Quite right, and let's not forget the DUI that Kerry got -- oh, wait a minute -- was that Kerry or someone else? Hmmmmmm........

Kerry, the Male Jane Fonda of the Vietnam war.................................

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

yea who was that again?

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1994 C 280 117.5k, White (Good as new)
1997 Toyota Camry 149k Miles (Not so pretty anymore)

1990 190e 2.6 95k (Sold-Should not have)
1981 240d Stick ??? Miles...sold

Gee, with that kind of scratch, you would have thought he could at least spring for a taxi ride home.

The Lottery Curse Continues

WINFIELD, W.Va. The cause of death has yet to be determined, but one person who knew 17-year-old Brandi Bragg says it was too much money that did her in.

Bragg was the only granddaughter of Jack Whittaker, winner of the richest undivided lottery jackpot in U-S history.

She was buried today in West Virginia, almost two years to the day after her doting grandfather won nearly 315 (m) million dollars playing Powerball. He took a 113 (m) million-dollar lump-sum payment.

A woman who once took care of Bragg said the 17-year-old had her own apartment and two luxury S-U-V's. Whittaker blames her "drug-using friends."

Bragg's body was found this week wrapped in a sheet and plastic tarp outside her boyfriend's home. A drug overdose is suspected.