MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man who was under house arrest for a slew of crimes, including pointing a gun at a Miami Beach commissioner, is now on the run after he got out of his ankle monitor.
Miami Beach officials said 35-year-old Christopher Pitre is a dangerous man, and they are on the lookout for him.
Miami Beach Police officers arrested Pitre back in April after, they said, he was found sleeping in Commissioner Joe Magazine’s car.
Magazine spoke to 7News about the incident during that time.
“[I] open the car door, and out essentially falls a person, unexpectedly,” Magazine told 7News. “A person was in my driver’s seat.”
Moments later, the commissioner said, a bad situation got worse.
“And he turns around, gun’s already pulled, right at my chest,” he said.
Luckily, the gunman took off. Days later, police were able to arrest him and attach a rash of other crimes, thefts and other offenses across Miami Beach to him.
“I got your guy here,” a Miami Beach officer said back in April.
But on Tuesday, Magazine spoke again to 7News as he demanded answers from law enforcement officials on Pitre’s whereabouts.
“This person pulled a gun on me. In the home where I live, where every morning I walk with my 7-year-old daughter,” said Magazine. “He terrorized this community for weeks on end.”
Magazine said he got a call from the Miami-Dade Corrections and Security Officials regarding the jailbreak of Pitre.
“It was with a sense of urgency, saying, ‘Mr. Magazine, are you safe? Are you able to speak if you’re compromised? Please let us know,'” Magazine said as he described the call.
The commissioner said the call informed him that Pitre was on the run.
“A week ago, he was released on house arrest, and he just compromised his ankle monitoring bracelet,” said Magazine. “He could be fleeing back to Texas, he could be fleeing back to Alabama. He could be returning here to Miami Beach where he seemed to feel at home.”
Now, Pitre is nowhere to be found.
“It’s very disheartening and, quite frankly, very alarming,” said Magazine.
7News reached out to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. A representative said they asked the judge to keep Pitre in jail pending trial due to his extensive criminal record but were unsuccessful at convincing Judge Ariel Rodriguez to keep him behind bars.
“Our prosecutor adamantly objected to the Court regarding him being released into our community. Despite our objections, the court granted the motion for release,” said the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office spokesperson.
Rodriguez is prohibited by judicial ethics rules to comment on a pending case.
Magazine said the justice system has failed in keeping Pitre locked behind bars.
“We are here in front of the children’s park, right across the street from where he pulled a gun on a father,” he said.
The commissioner said he is furious because an accused violent felon who was locked up is now free and unaccounted for.
“The Miami Beach Police put their lives on the line, quite literally, to bring the suspect into custody. They arrested him with a loaded gun in his waistband, with a round in the chamber, and the judicial system has failed us,” said Magazine.
7News sources said Pitre is at large and dangerous. He is being searched for by authorities throughout Miami Beach and beyond.
Sources also told 7News that Miami Beach politicians will hold a press conference on Pitre’s whereabouts on Wednesday afternoon.
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