Mitchell Igelko is probably the world's worst neighbor. His reign of terror was caught on tape in 2012, and it's left a slew of Kendall families in fear. Some of his alleged crimes: egging houses, killing lawns, firebombing a boat. In December of last year, the South Florida businessman was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to wear a monitoring device. The feud made national news, and even served as feature fodder for Good Morning America.
But his wife, Adriana, wants the world to know he's not crazy. Except for the fact that he is by all accounts super crazy. She's speaking out now that Igelko is in jail for stalking his ex-girlfriend in Lee County.
"He's not a monster. Mitchell is not a monster. Mitchell has problems, but he's not a monster,"
Adriana told Local 10. "I recognize my husband has responsibility for any actions, but the world doesn't know the other part of the story."
It's been reported that Igelko became enraged when his neighbors fired him as their lawn care professional. Mitchell's Lawn Maintenance was founded in 1987 and is now a business with more than 60 employees and 30 field trucks. Soon after the neighbors dismissed Igelko as their maintenance man, they banded together to purchase a surveillance system. They caught him pouring nails on their driveways and gasoline on their cars.
But Igelko's wife is now telling a different story. She says he was acting in retaliation, and that one day their dog, Chief, came home with cuts all over his body. Apparently, the pet had broken out of the Igelko's lawn and used a neighbor's plot as a toilet.
But Adriana also admits that her husband is mentally ill and suffers from both bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. She says that when he doesn't take his medication, he becomes unrecognizable.
"Mitch is a normal person. He has issues, I know, but he's no crazy," Adriana told the news station.
Igelko is currently being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami on a $5,000 bond.
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