Storm drain issue puts ‘Big Poppa’ in jail

Atlanta real estate investor Lee Najjar spent a night in the Fulton County jail after an arrest for allegedly skipping a court date concerning a storm drain, according to police.

A bench warrant was issued for Najjar, 55, after he failed to appear in Gwinnett County Recorder’s Court in July, according to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office. Najjar, known as Kim Zolciak’s former “Big Poppa” on “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” was ordered in May to pay $75,000 for violating the county’s soil erosion and sediment control ordinance in January, according to a citation obtained by the AJC .

Najjar, who lives in Buckhead, is accused of “failure to maintain storm water system” on property at the intersection of Jimmy Carter Boulevard and U.S. 29, the citation states. He was arrested Tuesday and transported to the Gwinnett County jail before being released Wednesday afternoon, jail records show.

Najjar has struggled financially in recent years, including in early 2011 when he lost Union Station Mall in south Fulton County to foreclosure.

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