Tony C Snookered

Nobody wants to talk about it, but Tony Catroppa, better known locally as Tony C, is suing the former owners of New Town Square in Rogers for breach of contract.

Catroppa claims in the lawsuit, which was filed Sept. 9 in Benton County, that he signed a five-year lease for two units of the development at 115 N. Dixieland Road on Nov. 1, 1995. Three days later, B.O.W. Inc., the company that owned the development, refused to accept the $1,646 check for the first month’s rent.

Catroppa was in Little Rock when we went to press and couldn’t be reached for comment. His wife says he prefers not to talk about the lawsuit.

Ron O’Dell, one of the three owners of B.O.W., didn’t want to discuss the lawsuit either. O’Dell, an agent with Harris McHaney Shearin Realtors of Rogers, became angry and abruptly ended a conversation about it. O’Dell, who signed the lease with Catroppa on behalf of the company, says only that Catroppa “wasn’t qualified” to lease space in the development.

According to the complaint filed in the lawsuit, Catroppa planned to open Tony C and Son Family Billiards & Game Room in New Town Square. After signing the lease, he ordered equipment valued at $50,000. Catroppa is suing B.O.W. for that expense and the estimated $50,000 in profits he says he has lost because the company refused to honor the lease.

B.O.W. sold New Town Square on July 8. The principals of the company are Ronald Buckman, O’Dell and Richard Werts.