Police: Man held gun to head of romance rival in Delray bar
After t wo men got into an argument at a crowded Delray Beach bar, one man pulled a gun out and placed it against the other man’s head.
Delray Beach resident Vincent Rotondo told police he didn’t pull a real gun. Instead, he pointed his fingers in the shape of a gun and pressed them against the side of the man’s head, he explained to detectives.
Then police showed him the securit y footage from inside the bar, which showed “Rotondo clearly pull a pistol-shaped object out” and place it against the other man’s head, according to the police report.
Rotondo, 58, was arrested last Friday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and other we a p o n s c h a r ge s . A s o f Thursday, he remained in the Palm Beach County Jail on $12,000 bail, according to jail records.
A man told police that in the late hours of April 7, he walked into CJ’s Sports Bar, near Atlantic Avenue and South Milit ar y Trail, and ordered a drink. At the bar he noticed Rotondo, who used to be an acquaintance of his, and walked over to speak with him.
The man told police that a year ago he was dating a woman whom Rotondo considered to be his girlfriend. The man said when Rotondo found out about the relationship, he had someone call him threatening to “have him killed,” according to the report. The two hadn’t spoken since then, the man explained to police.
At t he bar, t hey spoke a b o u t t h e p a s t i n c i d e n t and Rotondo said that the man was “lucky” because he could have killed him, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p o l i c e report. The man told police he became upset and said that if Rotondo really felt that way back then, he should have killed him.
“O h y e a h ? ” R o t o n d o reportedly said. “How about I do it now?”
Rotondo then pulled a gun out of his waistband and held it to the side of the man’s head, according to the report. Rotondo held it there for a few seconds and then put it away. The men began to argue and then to fight, at which time staff at the bar told the two to leave.
When police later spoke with Rotondo, he denied pulling out a gun and said he just put his fingers pointed like a gun to the man’s head. Though police said no one witnessed the gun being pulled out, a surveillance video of the incident showed “Rotondo clearly pull a pistol-shaped object out.”
Police said Rotondo has a concealed-carry permit, but he violated one of the rules of the permit by bringing the gun into a bar.
Rotondo was previously charged with drug possession and assault in 2010. While the drug charges were dropped, he pleaded guilty to the assault charges and was ordered to take anger-mana ge ment c l a s s e s . I n t h e assault incident, his girlfriend at the time accused him of putting a gun to her mouth and holding her against her will, according to the police report.