A Miami Beach real estate agent — who
sported bruises in his mugshot — was arrested over the weekend after police say
he tried to extort $800,000 from two high-powered brokers, known as ‘‘the
Jills,’’ and then grabbed for an officer’s gun during his arrest.
Kevin
Francis Tomlinson, 48, a high-profile Realtor who worked with One Sotheby’s
International Realty, was arrested Saturday and later released on an $11,000
bond, according to jail records.
Tomlinson’s
extortion plot began on April 17, 2015, when he filed an ethics complaint with
the Miami Association of Realtors against Coldwell Banker brokers Jill Eber and
Jill Hertzberg, Miami Beach Det. Wayne Holbrook wrote in an arrest warrant.
Hertzberg
and Eber are two of the top luxury brokers in South Florida. In 2012, they sold
a mansion in Indian Creek for $47 million, the most expensive home sale in
Miami-Dade County history.
In
his complaint, Tomlinson claimed the Jills were manipulating listings on the
“multiple listing service,” a marketing database used by brokers, in order to
reduce the prominence of homes they were having trouble selling, sources
familiar with the matter said. Complaints with the Realtors’ association are
confidential. They can be filed through a form available online.
Several
months after making his complaint, Tomlinson called Hertzberg on July 16 and
asked for a meeting “suggesting he had a way of withdrawing” the grievance,
Holbrook wrote in the warrant.
The
next day Tomlinson came to Hertzberg’s home and said the complaint would go
away if she and Eber each paid him $250,000, according to the warrant.
He
told Hertzberg that if he did not receive the payment he would go public with
the information and ruin their reputations. He then reduced the request to
$200,000 each, the warrant says.
That
same day the Jills reported the threats to Miami Beach police.
In
the beginning of August, a Miami Beach detective told Hertzberg to place four
calls to Tomlinson and the “subject continued his extortion plot,” a detective
wrote.
Then
on Thursday, Hertzberg — with the detective’s knowledge — had Tomlinson come to
her home for another meeting. Hertzberg had a check for $400,000, but Tomlinson
said he now wanted $800,000 and threatened to make his complaint “front page
news” if the Jills did not pay up, according to the warrant.
The
next day Hertzberg contacted Tomlinson, who responded by saying “too late
Jill,” according to the warrant.
Holbrook
obtained a warrant for Tomlinson’s arrest the same day.
On
Saturday, Miami Beach police showed up at his penthouse apartment at Meridian
Lofts, at 2001 Meridian Ave. in Miami Beach, to serve the warrant and he
refused to open up, shouting obscenities at them through a locked door and
cursing Hertzberg by name.
In a
separate arrest report, an officer said they had to get a key from the building
manager and when they entered “the officers were forced to physically grab the
defendant by his arms and take him to the ground as he continued to resist.”
After kicking and fighting arrest, Tomlinson “then grabbed the
handle of my firearm in an attempt to gain control of it,” an officer said.
He was then charged with
resisting arrest with violence and depriving an officer of means of protection,
in addition to two felony counts of extortion.
“This is retribution for
my grievance with the Miami Association of Realtors,’’ Tomlinson said in a
statement emailed to the Miami Herald. “I was threatened by Jill Hertzberg that
something like this was going to happen if I went forward with my Miami Association
of Realtors grievance.’’
Tomlinson obtained a
Florida real estate license in 1994 and established himself as a top broker of
Miami Beach property, serving as a member of the board of governors at the
Realtor’s association. Last year he sold a lot on Allison Road for $11.7 million.
He bought his 1,100-square-foot apartment for $375,000 10 years ago, county
records show.
One Sotheby’s said it
had “immediately terminated” Tomlinson and would cooperate with police.
In a written statement
issued through a spokesman, the Jills said that they were “shaken by this
extortion attempt, but want to thank the Miami Beach Police Department for
their professionalism and guidance.”
In reference to
Tomlinson’s complaint, spokesman Bruce Rubin said there had been “an issue”
entering electronic data into the multiple listing service and that the Jills
had discussed the matter with the Realtors’ association.
The association declined
to comment on the complaint, saying it could not confirm or deny the existence
of any complaints.
The incident with Tomlinson
isn’t the first case of bizarre behavior featuring South Florida real estate
agents.
Back in 2006, Dean
Isenberg created fake, raunchy online escort ads featuring the phone numbers of
a rival agent in North Miami-Dade. The series of ads sparked hundreds of lurid
phone calls to the married mother of three, nearly driving her to a nervous
breakdown.
Isenberg later pleaded
guilty to misdemeanor stalking in exchange for probation, 300 hours of
community service and restitution of $12,500 to the victim.
