Big Spin Millionaire Arrested on Suspicion of Shoplifting

Terry Howard Garrett, the former heroin addict who won $1 million in the California Lottery in 1986, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of shoplifting. After his arrest, police found that Garrett was also wanted on a warrant for passing bad checks.

For Garrett, 40, who lives in the 700 block of 48th St., the arrest marks yet another run-in with the law, a pattern that has dogged him for the last several years.

Last year, he was sentenced to one year in County Jail and given a $5,000 fine for stealing two bottles of cognac. The charge was a felony because of Garrett’s previous petty theft and narcotics convictions.

The judge last April suspended the jail sentence with the provision that Garrett return in six months with a favorable probation report and pay the fine.

Earlier, the judge had dismissed a separate charge accusing Garrett of possessing 10 ounces of cocaine for sale.

Though the charge was dropped, Garrett lost his brand new Buick Skylark, which was taken by authorities as part of the government’s seizure of assets held by drug defendants.

Garrett, who said he had never owned a car, paid $10,000 cash for the auto shortly after he won the $1 million during a Big Spin lottery show in August, 1986. He had to receive special permission from his probation officer to travel to Sacramento for the Big Spin lottery.

On Wednesday, according to police, Garrett was arrested at 12:45 p.m. for shoplifting at the Osco drug store located at 3151 University Ave. When he was taken to County Jail, officers discovered Garrett was wanted on a warrant for passing bad checks.

Garrett, who as a $1 million winner receives $40,000 a year for 20 years, told Superior Court Judge Ross G. Tharp last year, after the judge suspended his one-year sentence: “I’m never gonna do that again.”