BUSTED!  Beach Vice Mayor Mandigo jailed on wife beating charge; trial set Oct. 1

Mandigo

Vice Mayor Robert Mandigo was jailed overnight Saturday on a misdemeanor charge involving an assault on his wife.

His case is set to be heard at 8:30 a.m., October 1 in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Contacted Monday, Mandigo said, "I have no comment other than that posted on WTKR-TV's website"  Pressed, he said, "My lawyer has told me not to talk to anyone."  Asked who his lawyer is, Mandigo was unable to name him.  "I haven't met with him yet," he said.  

Police spokesman Mike Carey said Mandigo called police about 8 Saturday night saying he was involved in a domestic situation with his 'estranged' wife at his home on Gallant Fox Road.

Carey said that police arrested Mandigo under rules that determined he was the 'primary aggressor' in the incident.  "And she showed evidence of assault," Carey said.

Mandigo did not cause police any problems and was taken to the city jail where he remained overnight.

Mandigo told WTKR-TV's Mike Mather that he didn't want to talk about the incident, but gave him a handwritten note reading, "It's very unfortunate, but I'm having difficulties in my personal life. I regret recent events and I will face any judgments and consequences." 

This past weekend was one of big time Neptune Festival partying.  Among events there was a 2-day wine tasting.  Sources indicated Mandigo had been attending Neptune events.  Asked if alcohol was a contributing factor, Carey said, "We have not been able to rule that out at this time."

He did say no weapons were involved in the confrontation.

The assault involves Mandigo's second wife.  When he first sought election to City Council in 2000 rumors of wife-beating emerged.  A search of court records revealed that his first wife alleged spousal abuse and assault.  Neighbors verified the accounts of domestic fighting at the Mandigo home. Police were called to separate the fighting couple.

In one case police were called after he busted open a bedroom door.  Police told him he would have to sleep on the downstairs living room couch and his then wife would have to sleep in the upstairs bedroom.

Police made no arrest during that incident.

During the heated campaign against incumbent Don Weeks, Mandigo succeeded in getting his ex-wife who was then living in North Carolina, however, to minimize the allegations despite the written accounts to the contrary in the divorce documents.

The Virginian-Pilot during the 2000 election covered up the situation by refusing to investigate and publish the information.  It's reporter pooh-poohed Mandigo's behavior as being irrelevant, actions that aided Mandigo (the newspaper's choice for the Kempsville Borough seat) in defeating Weeks. 

Mandigo was named vice mayor this year by a council majority exercising its collective intelligence in such matters.

Mandigo is a senior defense analyst for the United States General Accounting Office. He is a certified fraud examiner and a certified government financial manager. 

He is serving the third year of his first term as council member. He served on the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and as well as a liaison to the Minority Business Council and the Town Center project. 

A graduate of Kempsville High School  with a a BS in business administration (accounting) from Old Dominion University.  He served in the Navy Reserves. 

He has also served on the boards of the Community United Methodist Church, the Carolanne Farm Swim Club, the Tidewater Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants.

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