CarMax Park spat between Flying Squirrels owner, Diamond District developer goes public

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Flying Squirrels owner Lou DiBella has filed a defamation lawsuit against Thalhimer principal Jason Guillot, alleging Guillot falsely told a city official that DiBella threatened to kill him and his family.

The lawsuit claims the alleged false statement was made to bias the city against DiBella and gain leverage in Thalhimer's ongoing commercial disputes with the Squirrels in the Diamond District developments.

However, Guillot told CBS 6 many of the lawsuit's claims are inaccurate.

The lawsuit centers on a "heated conversation" that took place in a hallway near the team offices on Opening Day at CarMax Park in April 2026.

DiBella alleges he approached Guillot to discuss "grievances" about Guillot's actions in the Diamond District project and delays in surrounding development.

DiBella alleges Guillot said during that conversation: "You know everybody hates you right? The city hates you. I hate you."

After a few minutes, DiBella walked away as Guillot allegedly said: "What are you going to hit me?"

DiBella allegedly replied he would "never" do that but added: "But if I did hit you, I'd hit you so hard, I'd hurt your whole family."

The lawsuit claims that was a quote from a movie and that DiBella meant it jokingly.

DiBella alleges Guillot then told a city official overseeing the Diamond District project that DiBella had threatened to "kill" him and his family if Guillot did not sell a parcel of land located in front of the stadium to the Squirrels.

The lawsuit offers a behind-the-scenes look at the $2.4 billion Diamond District project, though only from DiBella's perspective.

He claims Thalhimer, the lead developer after other companies quietly dropped off, was ill-equipped to lead the project, causing development to be "far behind schedule."

DiBella alleges the Squirrels eventually had to take over the stadium portion of the project in order to meet deadlines.

But DiBella also alleges the city withheld from the Squirrels a parcel of land next to the entrance to the ballpark.

He claims the city said the land had to be earmarked for an "African American owned food court" that would be non-competitive with the Squirrels' concessions in order to meet minority business ownership requirements.

DiBella alleges the Squirrels offered to buy the land but Thalhimer refused.

He later found out that Thalhimer allegedly intended to lease the land to a sports bar that would be named after former Squirrels CEO Todd Parnell and would compete with the Squirrels.

Parnell allegedly did not want it to be named after him, according to the lawsuit.

Those events in part allegedly led up to the heated conversation on opening night.

DiBella allegedly told Guillot he was frustrated there was nothing surrounding the stadium but a construction site and that he "knew Guillot was now trying to compete with the Squirrels on the team’s front lawn."

DiBella's lawsuit against Guillot and Thalhimer seeks tens of millions of dollars.

Guillot responded to the lawsuit in a statement.

"Many of the allegations in the lawsuit are inaccurate. We look forward to setting the record straight," Guillot said.

The city, which is not a named party in the lawsuit, declined to comment.

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.