The Real Housewives of Orange County‘s Gretchen Rossi is officially on the lam again after a judge issued a bench warrant for her arrest yesterday. The latest chapter in the ongoing legal battle between Gretchen and her ex boyfriend Jay Photoglou, who are suing each other for libel, defamation and slander, stems from Gretchen’s failure to appear in court on Thursday.
According to court documents obtained by Radar Online, the judge “issued the warrant for her arrest and set her bail at $2,500.” Ugh, can’t a woman catch a break? Oh wait, yes she can. From Radar: “The judge gave Gretchen a break, and continued the warrant until September 15, meaning she has until that date to appear in court, and she will not be arrested.”
But that’s not the best part of the story!
Before we get to that, let’s take a quick bikini and Rossi (Asti Spumanti?) break from all the legalese shall we?
Click to enlarge:
^ Gretchen Rossi in an American flag bikini (Judy Eddy/WENN.com)
The best part of the story is that Jay proved Gretchen Rossi knew about the court date because he hired a private investigator to serve the papers. AND, because of Gretchen’s history of denying being served, he recorded the entire thing on video! Sadly, the video hasn’t surfaced, but a detailed account of how the whole thing went down has. Here is a transcript of the legal documents obtained by Radar Online detailing the stealth operation with my favorite part (Gretchen’s reaction) in bold.
****WARNING! The following contains graphic and egregious spelling and grammatical errors not suitable for our more hoity toity readership.
On Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 9:00 A.M. I arrived at Gretchen Rossi’s private residence located at [redacted] with a second investigator.
Upon arrival we obtained a surveillance position in antisipation of Gretchen’s departure. I had a clear view of the driveway that leads to Gretchen Rossi’s residnce. I also located Gretchen’s [redacted] convertible bearing CA license plate [redacted] was park curbside near her residence.
Around 2:00 P.M. I received an anonomous tip that Grentchen Rossi was not at home and that she was in the Palm Springs area attending the Mrs. Global Pageant. After conducting an online search I was albe to locate where the event was held. The event was held at The West in Mission Hills Resort & Spa which is located at [redacted] in the city of Rancho Mirage, CA [redacted].
Around 7:00 P.M. We arrived at the above address a search for Gretchen Rossi’s [redacted] bearing license plate [redacted] parked in the parking lot near building 9. A canvas of the area was conducted and we located the area where the pageant would be held. Then we spoke to a confidential source who said they were unsure of the exact room number Gretchen Rossi was in however Gretchen Rossi was observed on the 2nd floor of building…
[It appears as though there are a couple missing lines here. We’ll take this opportunity to insert another Gretchen Rossi bikini break!]
…surveillance position with a view of the room in antisipation of Gretchen Rossi’s departure.
At approximatly 7:42 P.M. Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley exited the room and walked down the stairs. I followed down the stair a several steps behind them while the 2nd investigator documented everything on video. As I reached the bottom of the steps I said “Gretchen” just loud enough for Gretchen Rossi and the video camera to hear and Gretchen turned around and said “yes” which also can be heard on the video. I served Gretchen Rossi the documents and I turned around and walked away. Gretchen Rossi turned and walked in the direction of the pageant and stated “Can you believe these f***ing people?” Video was obtained of the Range Rover’s license plate and room number.
I declare, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on the 17th day of June 2011, at [redacted].
– Robert Wonsch
(Anyone wanna guess how long it is before that video shows up online? I’m betting Radar Online is in negotiations as I type!)
Gretchen Rossi bikini photos: Judy Eddy/WENN.com
