CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A Coral Gables attorney was arrested on an aggravated stalking charge after city police officers caught him holding two pizza boxes labeled with the names of a fellow lawyer and his wife, whom he had subjected to “constant harassment,” authorities said.
Carlos Santi, 43, a real estate and insurance lawyer, faced a Miami-Dade judge Friday in handcuffs as a criminal defendant.
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While the victims’ names were redacted from the arrest report, Judge Mindy Glazer identified them in open court Friday while issuing a stay-away order.
Santi and the other attorney work for different firms in the Gables.
Police said the other attorney contacted police Tuesday to report that Santi “has continuously harassed and intimidated him” by showing up “unannounced and without invitation” to his workplace and home.
“The victim, out of fear for his safety and that of his employees, had to close his place of business and send his employees home believing that (Santi) would show up like he did on (Tuesday morning),” Coral Gables police wrote in an arrest report.
Police said the victim received “several text messages” from Santi and told him not to contact him.
Nevertheless, they said he “refused and continued to intentionally pass by the victim’s residence and send text messages that he was outside the victim’s home.”
The report states that Santi has also sent “rap songs to the victim that have threatening lyrics” and “has caused substantial emotional distress to the victim and his spouse.”
“The victim has provided video surveillance of (Santi) walking by his residence while staring at the victim’s home,” police wrote. “(He) also mentioned the victim’s children in the text messages.”
Authorities said the victim also showed police the texts. The report doesn’t mention any specific motive.
Police said officers found Santi in the 2700 block of Galiano Street holding the aforementioned pizza boxes Thursday evening.
Santi is in good standing with the Florida Bar, according to his profile on its website.
In an email to Local 10 News, a Florida Bar spokesperson confirmed the organization has an “open file regarding (the) matter” and shared a link to its disciplinary process.
As of Friday afternoon, Santi was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $2,500 bond, jail records show.