A Fox News report about attempted home invasions at Danielle Rollins' home in Atlanta
We know from our series of posts about Birmingham resident Sherry Carroll Rollins that marrying into the mega-wealthy Rollins family and then trying to get divorced can be a harrowing experience--especially if you are a woman.
The folks behind Atlanta-based Rollins Inc., the parent company of Orkin Pest Control and other highly profitable enterprises, apparently are more than willing to play hardball when family assets are at stake. Atlanta author, socialite, and Southern Living contributor Danielle Rollins is the latest to learn just how dangerous the hardball can get.
We first reported on Danielle Rollins with an October 2012 post titled "Sex Addiction And Big Bucks Are At The Heart Of a Juicy Divorce Story In The Deep South." Danielle's husband, former Orkin president Glen Rollins, reportedly sought treatment--apparently without much success--at the same sex addiction clinic that treated Tiger Woods.
The sex addiction issue seems quaint compared to recent events in the Danielle/Glen story.
Danielle divorced Glen Rollins in 2013, but the case is ongoing as Danielle challenges her proceeds from the case and reportedly seeks a share of Glen's trust fund. Danielle also is suing her original lawyers in the divorce, who she claims (according to an article at dailyreportonline.com) "pressured her to sign a hastily prepared, handwritten settlement agreement that gave her some $15 million—but cut her out of millions more—and saw her and the couple's three children forced to vacate their Buckhead estate, Boxwood."
Is someone unhappy with Danielle's aggressive legal tactics, especially her pursuit of an equitable share of Glen's trust fund, reportedly valued at more than $1 billion? Recent evidence suggests the answer might be yes.
Danielle recently made national headlines when she and security personnel had to scare off a home invasion or attempted robbery at her Buckhead residence for the third time in one month. From a New York Daily News article:
"A security guard hired by Danielle Rollins, the Southern Living contributor the magazine calls “Atlanta’s preeminent hostess and tastemaker,” chased away men Rollins heard trying to break in Saturday night, she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I’m obviously rather freaked out and tired, but I’m not going to be scared out of my own house,” Rollins said.
How bad could the situation have gotten? A report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides clues:
(Danielle) was unpacking the night after Christmas, after a holiday break, when someone tried to enter her home.
“The private security guard I hired after my last break-in three weeks ago, and probably for the rest of my life now after this, chased at least two men through a neighbor’s yard,” she said in a post to her Facebook page, which she granted the AJC permission to share. “They dropped a backpack containing items including but not limited to guns, mace and ties. The Atlanta Police Department responded immediately, blocking and securing the area, with helicopter and canine patrol. This is not a way to live.”
Atlanta Police Department officers recovered a cache of weapons including a stolen gun, duct tape, rubber gloves, binoculars and other items dropped by the suspects as they ran off. Officers were unable to chase down the suspects but recovered a black ski mask, glove and other items inside a backpack the suspects dropped.
Contents of the backpack included some disturbing evidence. Somebody was taking their assigned task seriously:
Inside the backpack were a “loaded Ruger SR9c 9mm (Serial #33380289) with a 10 round capacity magazine with 7 rounds loaded,” an Atlanta police report said. “A second magazine was located that had a 17-round capacity with 13 rounds loaded and a 9mm ammo box with 4 rounds left. The gun was checked on ACIC and it came back stolen from Sandy Springs Police Department (Case # 2015015698). The gun was taken in a burglary where the victim walked in on the suspect still inside his home.”
Also recovered: 3- particulate respirators. 1-Bushnell 16×32 binoculars, 1 small roll of Duct tape, 2- small Mace brand pepper sprays, 14- black rubber gloves, and 1-verizon blackberry (no battery or backing).”
Was someone planning a kidnapping, a murder, or both? It sure sounds like it.
How could a divorce case turn so ugly? For one thing, the Rollins family's net worth is an estimated $7.4 billion, according to a recent AJC report. (Our sources say that figure is way too low.) Also, ugliness is not new in Rollins divorces. During her divorce from Ted Rollins, Sherry Rollins said, several wheels on her vehicle mysteriously came off while she was driving--and a mechanic said all of the lug nuts had been loosened. Also, she awoke one morning to find a bloody, dead deer lying on her doorstep.
Danielle and Glen Rollins
(From Forbes)
Was misconduct present in the Danielle and Glen Rollins marriage? The answer is yes, and some might call it misconduct of a gross nature. From an AJC report:
After their storybook beginning, Danielle discovered that Glen had begun consorting with prostitutes — by the time of their divorce, they numbered between 25 and 50, he has admitted in court.
That suggests Danielle Rollins might be entitled to more than a 50/50 split of assets, but the share she received in the settlement was nowhere near that. She and the couple's children even were forced to move out of the marital residence, which normally goes to a mother and children--although, as Sherry Rollins knows, that doesn't necessarily happen in a Rollins divorce.
In her case, Ted Rollins failed to make court-ordered payments on the family home, causing Ms. Rollins and the couple's daughters--Sarah and Emma--to flee to Alabama, where they had family members living. Ted Rollins then sued Ms. Rollins for divorce in Alabama, and Shelby County Judge D. Al Crowson issued a divorce decree, even though Ms. Rollins already had initiated divorce proceedings in South Carolina, where the family had lived, and the case had been litigated there for three years.
That can't lawfully be done, based on an Alabama case styled Wesson v. Wesson 628 So. 2d 953 (1993), which holds:
Once jurisdiction has attached in one court, that court has the exclusive right to continue its exercise of power until the completion of the case, and is only subject to appellate authority.
Al Crowson essentially stole the case from South Carolina, regardless of what the law says--and he proceeded to issue a final order that was wildly favorable to Ted Rollins. As Danielle Rollins is learning, strange things can happen in Rollins divorce cases.
What will happen next in the Danielle/Glen case, which is perhaps the messiest, high-profile divorce the South has seen in years. That's hard to say, but the case is making national news. Here is a report from Good Morning America:
