MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The former president of a South Beach condominium association exacted an apparent reign of terror this spring, making “several residents fear for their safety,” according to police.
Miami Beach police arrested Marc Joseph Maggisano on Sunday, after accusing him of sending several threatening text messages to a board member of 363 Washington Ave. and trying to set a resident’s truck on fire back in April.
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According to police, on April 18, Maggisano sent a number of “very violent and (derogatory)” text messages to a board member, including, using a homophobic slur, “die and die slow f----t,” “Im goin got (sic) sure you’re dead within 48 hours,” “Im going to cut you opn tmrw,” and “I will murder you shortly.”
It was all part of a “disturbing pattern” from the 34-year-old Canadian national, police said.
That pattern, police said, continued on April 29 after Maggisano lit a cloth on fire and threw it into the gas tank of a resident’s truck at around 2:30 that morning.
Police said Maggisano’s effort to set the truck ablaze failed, but the resident noticed something was amiss on May 1 when he noticed his truck wasn’t absorbing fuel properly, prompting him to suspect his vehicle had been vandalized.
Authorities said the building’s property manager identified Maggisano as the suspect after reviewing surveillance footage.
The arson attempt caused $7,500 in damage to the pickup truck, an arrest report states.
Maggisano’s arrest reports don’t specify whether he had been serving as president or was already out of office at the time the incidents took place.
While not explicitly stated in the reports, it appears Maggisano may have left South Florida between the April incidents and his arrest on Sunday.
Police said they were tipped off to his presence on Saturday after he received a package at his apartment. Then, on Sunday, they said a license plate reader on the MacArthur Causeway detected Maggisano’s vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz coupe with Ontario plates.
Officers later found Maggisano’s vehicle at the Washington Avenue condominium, contacted him and arrested him, the report states.
He faces felony charges of attempted arson, criminal mischief and written threats to kill and was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $12,500 bond.