Longwood gym owner accused of attacking woman who conned him

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A Seminole County gym owner has been jailed after investigators said he tried to get even with a woman who owed him money.

According to court documents, Tina Mangiardi agreed to plead guilty in March after being accused of taking more than $2 million from investors as part of a Ponzi scheme.

Adam Pollock, who runs Kokopelli's Gym and Fitness Center in Longwood, was one of her investors, but he's now in jail, accused of attacking the former model after realizing he invested in a scheme.

Surveillance video obtained by Channel 9 shows Mangiardi, an admitted con artist, pulling into the parking lot of Kokopelli's.

She told police she was going there to pay a debt she owed to Pollock, but Mangiardi said once she was inside the gym, Pollock put on a pair of black gloves and pulled out a knife, threatening to cut off her fingers and toes as collateral.

A camera at a nearby business caught Mangiardi running out of the gym asking workers there to call police.

Pollock admitted to police he did push Mangiardi and that he may have slapped her.  A pre-trial conference is scheduled for July 9 at 9 a.m.

Pollock also testified in George Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial on Monday. He testified that Zimmerman trained in the form of mixed martial arts known as grappling but was an unaccomplished fighter.

"He was about a 1," said Pollock when asked to rank Zimmerman's athletic skill on a scale of 1 to 10.

WFTV