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Carrollwood couple sues NFL player over shared driveway dispute

A Carrollwood couple and a free agent pro football player who is their neighbor are caught in a legal scuffle over the shared driveway of their million dollar homes.

Michael and Charlotte Baker claim Anthony Chickillo, who most recently played linebacker for the NFL’s Denver Broncos, repeatedly and intentionally restricts access to their W Kyra Drive, according to a lawsuit filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. He lives next door in a house that overlooks Lake Carroll.

Both homes are valued at more than 1.2 million dollars, according to a Zillow estimate, though the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office places the market value below $1 million for each.

The couple says Chickillo and his guests park vehicles on the common entrance and on the Bakers’ property. He also has placed trees and other landscaping elements unreasonably in designated shared space.

Those actions physically block access to the Baker home, sometimes damaging sprinkler heads and killing vegetation, the complaint claims.

Chickillo also expanded the driveway unilaterally so that it encroaches into the neighboring property by 10 feet, the Bakers say.

When the couple attempts to use the space, Chickillo encourages his guests to confront them.

In one instance, the couple says Chickillo’s girlfriend, Cheyenne Autumn Snow, attacked Charlotte as she tried to access her home. It led to a violent interaction where Snow “repeatedly batter[ed] Mrs. Baker’s head and face with a no trespassing sign,” according to the lawsuit. Then she yelled at Baker to “get off my fucking property” and called her a “b—ch.”

Attempts to reach Snow by phone and email were unsuccessful. The Bakers and Chickillo and their attorneys did not return phone messages.

The Bakers are seeking damages for trespassing and a court order prohibiting Chickillo from blocking the use of the driveway.

Chickillo played collegiate football at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015. He started last year with the New Orleans Saints before being acquired by the Broncos and is now a free agent.

Chickillo was arrested in October 2019, after a dispute at a Pennsylvania casino with his then-girlfriend turned physical. The chargers were dropped within days, and Chickillo rejoined the Steelers, for the remainder of football season.

Charlotte Baker leads the cybersecurity firm Digital Hands as CEO and serves on the board for Tampa Bay Wave, a local technology accelerator. She is also the secretary of the University of Tampa’s Board of Trustees. In 2013, the Tampa Bay Business Journal named her “Business Woman of the Year in Technology.”