Man Holds Computer Tech At Gunpoint Over Malfunctioning Computer
If you think you have problems, consider the case of a computer repairman who has to visit the home of frustrated computer owners.
Anyone who’s had a computer knows technical problems can be extremely frustrating, but hopefully they’ve never gone to extremes like a man in Arlington, Virginia, who held an IT repairman hostage at gunpoint.
Self-styled communications expert Joseph Nestor Mondello, 50, called Dell tech support for help when his computer stopped working, but then flew into a rage when the technician couldn’t fix the problem, according to the Washington Post.
The IT repairman said he needed to leave the home to get a computer part, which is when Mondello flew into a rage and began threatening the technician.
He left the room and came back holding a gun he used to threaten the technician, Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told the Patch.
“You’re not leaving this house until the computer is fixed.”
Mondello began pacing back and worth across the room holding the gun at his side while continuing to threaten the repairman.
“I’m going to kill you slowly.”
On The Fourth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me, Four Calling Birds (& Tech Problems) ? pic.twitter.com/VeAbswdYjr
— Carol (@CarolMaeWY) December 28, 2015
That’s when his wife intervened and the computer tech was able to escape out the front door. He called 911, and the SWAT team responded to the home with armed officers, Dustin Sternbeck told WJLA-TV.
“He was clearly agitated at the time.”
After a short standoff outside the home, Mondello surrendered and was arrested in front of his wife and son and charged with abduction. He was given a $20,000 bond and is awaiting trial in March.
His wife, however, says the house doesn’t even have a gun.
She told police the computer tech made the whole thing up because he was embarrassed that he couldn’t fix the computer. She says he just made the computer worse, according to CBC News.
“It’s like, he felt insulted … and he decided to get back at us.”
Police searched the home and found a toy replica gun, but Mondello’s wife claims it wasn’t used in the incident. Standing in front of her South Arlington home, Mondello’s wife maintained her husband’s innocence and tearfully begged her community to believe her.
The technician, however, said he thought the gun was real and took the threats seriously being in fear of life, police spokesman Sternbeck told WJLA-TV.
“We have to take that very seriously.”
Sterbeck said people shouldn’t make threats with fake weapons.
“They look like the real thing. Replica weapons have serious consequences as well.”
A former member of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s staff, Mondello is now a lobbyist and owner of the Mondello Group, according to his LinkedIn profile.
We still don’t know what was wrong with the computer.
If he’s convicted of abduction, Mondello could face up to 10 years in prison for holding the computer tech hostage.
There’s no record of an attorney able to comment for Mondelo.
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The self-proclaimed communications expert isn’t the only person to get mad at their expensive technological equipment.
A man in Colorado was cited after he dragged his computer into a back alley and shot it eight times.
Colorado Springs resident Lucas Hinch, 37, struggled with his computer for months before getting so frustrated he was forced to kill his computer and dispose of the body, according to CBC News.
If you have computer problems, remember to relax and breathe deeply.
[Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
