MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A fugitive accused of holding a Miami Beach commissioner at gunpoint and who police say was recently arrested for burglary at a South Florida gas station appeared before a judge on Monday.
Christopher Pitre, a accused serial burglar linked to several criminal cases, appeared in court on Monday wearing an anti-suicide safety smock. The 35-year-old, who had been on the run after escaping from a halfway house and removing his ankle monitor, is now back in custody.
Commissioner Joe Magazine reported finding Pitre, - whose arrest warrant states is originally from Texas but now living on the streets of Miami - inside his parked car before being held at gunpoint on April 11. He was one of Pitre’s many alleged victims. Court records show prosecutors filed 15 cases against him in Miami-Dade County.
Magazine recounted the incident he had with Pitre last April with Local 10′s Christina Vazquez.
“He turns around. He’s about five feet in front of me and he has a gun, and he points it at my chest. There’s a red laser beam on my chest. I just put up my hands,” said Magazine.
“This person was just a bad person,” Magazine told Local 10 over the weekend. “He belonged nowhere near society and he wasn’t going to stop. He wasn’t going to be rehabilitated.”
Miami Beach detectives, reviewing surveillance footage, connected Pitre to multiple crimes across the city. Investigators say Pitre is responsible for burglarizing cars, stealing items from the Maison Grande Condo Mini Mart, taking e-bikes, and even stealing a woman’s car.
Pitre, who also appeared to have cut his hair while on the run, was cuffed and vested in court as he faced numerous charges on Monday.
“As you are aware, there are several cases pending, he is dangerous in nature, he is a flight risk, he has cut off his monitor before, and he poses a danger to the community,” a state attorney told the presiding judge while in bond court.
Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne A. Jones announced Saturday afternoon that Pitre was in custody. Miami Beach police Officer Victor Palacios spotted Pitre after stumbling upon a retail theft at a Walgreens in Normandy Isle.
According to the police arrest report, a woman who worked for Walgreens was using her phone to take a picture of Pitre who ran up Verdun Court toward Normandy Drive. Palacios shouted, “Police! Stop!”
Pitre ignored him, broke into a building, ran up to the second floor, back down, across Normandy Drive and into a Mobil gas station at 71st Street and Biarritz Drive, according to police.
Sergeant Vincent Stella responded to the pursuit and held Pitre at gunpoint while other officers subdued him and handcuffed him, authorities said. Pitre identified himself as Christopher McMillan, but police officers figured out who he was, and returned $30.26 in stolen merchandise to Walgreens.
Jones praised the officer’s “swift action.” Pitre’s alleged crime spree in Miami Beach also includes breaking into a car on March 14, stealing a bicycle on March 17, stealing an eBike on March 20, and stealing a car on April 8. A Miami Beach police officer arrested him on April 15.
Magazine said the incident highlights the need for judges to impose tougher penalties on serious offenders who repeatedly break the law.
“The fact that somebody pointed a gun at someone while already being a convicted felon, and was released on house arrest—we see the consequences of that,” he said. “You’re only as strong as your weakest link. If we have a weak link somewhere in the judicial process, we need to call that out.”
Court records show six of the 15 cases were closed. A grand theft case closed on May 6. Another grand theft case closed on May 7. Four burglary cases closed on May 28.
According to the Miami Beach Police Department, Pitre had damaged a GPS ankle monitor and fled from a drug treatment facility on Tuesday, police said.
After his arrest Saturday, Pitre was facing new charges of retail theft, resisting an officer without violence and providing a false name or identification after arrest.
A judge ordered that Pitre be held without bond on Monday and assigned him a public defender.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.