Guns N? Money

The fallout from one of the many lawsuits involving real estate developer Tom Terminella and his wife, Michelle, has taken an unusual twist.

In 2009, the Washington County Circuit Court ruled in favor of First State Bank of Lonoke in a lawsuit involving the Terminellas. The bank foreclosed on a large portion of Grand Valley Stables subdivision in Springdale – a Terminella project – along with about four acres on Albright Road.

The court said Terminella owed the bank $2.23 million. An auction of the property brought $2.19 million, leaving Terminella responsible for the rest.

Two years later, the Terminellas are now seeking compensation through a different avenue. According to an amended complaint filed July 22 with the Washington County Circuit Clerk’s office, the couple is seeking damages after a series of alleged threatening phone calls Tom Terminella received from FSB chairman and CEO David Estes, who now lives in central Arkansas.

Terminella and his wife were deposed June 17 by an FSB attorney while pursuing post-judgment discovery of their assets. The deposition, according to the complaint, ended about 5:30 p.m.

Shortly thereafter, Estes “made repeating threatening phone calls to plaintiffs, taunting plaintiffs and stating that he was coming to get them, causing plaintiffs to fear for their lives,” according to the complaint.

Terminella called the Fayetteville Police Department that night and was advised to leave his home and stay with relatives, which he and his family did. Terminella told an officer it is “well known that Estes is always armed and generally keeps at least one handgun in his boots, sometimes two,” the police report stated.

The Terminellas also filed a complaint with the Fayetteville prosecutor’s office, which resulted in a warning letter being sent from the prosecutor to Estes at a post office box address in Lonoke.

Whispers contacted Estes, who denied threatening Terminella and added we’ve probably covered Terminella enough to know his record for not paying people.

Estes also said, “No, I don’t have guns in each boot.”