It’s not always a person’s favorite part of the day to find a process server at the door, but certain reactions are better than others. The former CEO of Latitude 360 learned this the hard way when he was accused of running over a process server with his car.
When Latitude 360 first opened in Robinson, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, it was a hotspot restaurant and entertainment venue complete with an arcade and movie theater. However, the business didn’t succeed, and now CEO Brent Brown of Jacksonville, FL is facing major financial problems as a result. The restaurant’s debt dwarfs most people’s worst credit card bills: Latitude 360 had been behind on rent since 2012 and as of March 2016 owed $6 million just in rent and fees. In addition, the company’s employees were not paid their final one or two paychecks, or received checks that couldn’t clear.
If those financial strikes weren’t enough, Latitude 360 also failed to pay its Allegheny County alcohol tax, and it allegedly owes $4.3 million to a Swiss company that provided a start-up loan. The Sheriff’s Office posted signs telling the business to vacate the property, and things have only gotten worse from there.
At the end of June 2016, a 64-year-old female process server was tasked with serving CEO Brent Brown with court papers outside of his gate San Marco home. She managed to catch Brown as he left his community to attend a deposition regarding his failure to pay the company’s chief financial officer, Craig Phillips, the $100,000 that is owed to him. However, in video footage of the service of process, Brown can be heard saying, “You attacked me. You slammed my car, damaged my car,” after the process server exclaims, “You’re going to be in trouble for trying to run over somebody.”
Brown says he filed a police report, but the process reporter sustained physical injuries and was quoted as saying, “I’m five-foot-two. I’m 64-years-old. You really think I’m out jumping on top of Range Rovers?” Though the aftermath of the incident is still not clear, it certainly seems that Brown has put himself into even more hot water.
