Shaw finds fame is smashing

Bristow resident Mona Shaw jokes that her “15 minutes of fame has spread to about 30.”

The 75-year-old had quite the surprise waiting after she returned home from a weekend trip.

Shaw, who was arrested for disturbing the peace at the Manassas Comcast office in August, had an answering machine full of messages and media interview requests after the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger reported Saturday that she had taken a hammer to some equipment at the Comcast office.

On Tuesday, she and her husband replaced their Comcast service with a satellite dish.

She has received interview requests from as far away as San Diego and was mentioned on conservative radio talk show host Bill O’Reilly’s “No Spin Zone.” She has also been the subject of numerous posts on PotomacNews.com and ManassasJM.com, most showing their support for her.

Shaw was even called by a high school radio station in Silver Spring, Md., which disturbed her because she didn’t want to send the wrong signal to children.

“I don’t want kids to think that it’s all right to act up the way that I did,” Shaw said.

On Aug. 20, after almost a week of receiving no assistance in switching her phone service to Comcast, Shaw was arrested for striking a computer keyboard with a hammer she had in her purse and knocked over a monitor in the Comcast payment center on Center Street.

Because of her actions, Shaw is on probation until her December court date. In court in September, Shaw paid a $345 fine and had a 12-month restraining order filed against her by Comcast. At this point, she wants nothing more to do with Comcast so that’s fine with her.

Along with switching to Dish Network, Shaw has also switched her phone service back to Verizon.

While she appreciates the support, Shaw hopes the attention will die down soon.

“This has been unbelievable,” Shaw said. “This thing just snowballed.”