I came across this interesting snippet that I had stored in my computer – and then lost, to just find it today! This is from the Le Parisien newspaper who reported on “The Unhappy Customer Who Took Hostages At BMW’s French HQ.”
60 year old French retiree Antonio Fontana is obsessed with BMWs. Like, Single White Female obsessed. It started with a BMW he regretted purchasing and ended with him taking hostages at BMW’s French headquarters. But there’s actually more to this story.
According to Le Parisien (translated), Fontana purchased a BMW 530d diesel from a dealership a few years ago, but wasn’t happy with the performance of his vehicle.
And, like any upset consumer, he took the following normal steps:
In 2003, he tried to set himself on fire in front of the BMW dealership where he purchased the car.
In 2005, he left boxes of fake explosives at three BMW dealerships around France, for which he was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
In 2008, he called in a bomb threat to BMW France HQ.
Yesterday, he fired shots at BMW HQ and took a receptionist hostage.
Fontana eventually surrendered to police before harming anyone and now faces more serious jail time.
Look for a billboard campaign from Audi of France proudly proclaiming “AUDI: Our customers don’t try to kill us.”
[Le Perisien]
