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The drama over Dixie the Dinosaur continues.
The beloved 70-foot-tall, fiberglass statue is now wrapped up in a million-dollar civil lawsuit based around a "He said, she said" oral agreement and the property that the dismantled dino currently sits on.
If you don't know the backstory, Dixie was the brainchild of Tobacco store tycoon John Roscoe. The 15,000-pound dinosaur was flown in by helicopter and set along Interstate 80 near Dixon. Dixie was a marketing stunt for Roscoe's store called Cheaper.
In 1998, Dixie was relocated by helicopter, AGAIN, to another store in Benicia. Then in 2005, Roscoe sold his Benicia store, cut Dixie into five pieces and trucked the Dino to his 153-acre property in Fairfield.
This is where things get really complicated.
Roscoe got into some trouble with the FBI. In 2011, he plead guilty to making false statements to a bank and was ordered to pay $10.2 million in restitution.
In 2013, a couple by the name of Jesse and Cathy Marion acquired the property that Dixie currently lives. How this happened and the details having to do with Dixie are a little unclear. The lawsuit states that there was some kind of oral agreement between Roscoe and the Marions.
The Marions filed a 21- page lawsuit against John Roscoe and his wife. The Marions are asking for more than a million dollars in damages and injunctive relief.
Once again, the lawsuit based around and oral agreement on the ownership of the Dixie.
According to the Marions, the original land deal allowed Roscoe and his wife to live on the property but, the ownership of the fiberglass animals (Roscoe had other fiberglass statues) would be transferred to the Marions.
According to the lawsuit, Roscoe has been living on the Marions property for five years rent free.
Roscoe invited ABC10 News to do a story on Dixie last April. After that story aired the City of Dixon voted to purchase the dinosaur from Roscoe for $25,000.
Dixon backed away from the deal after learning of the ownership dispute. The Marions filed the lawsuit against Roscoe on June 13, 2018. The complaint lists 11 different charges including fraud, breach of oral contract, trespassing and invasion of privacy.
We reached out to Mr. Roscoe for a comment on the lawsuit. Roscoe maintains that he is the owner of Dixie and says, "The court will sort this out."
The Marions are represented by Law office of Amber L. Kemble. We are still waiting for a comment from the Marions or their lawyer.
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