A Miami-Dade judge who resigned from his position amid misconduct allegations has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly pulling a gun on a neighbor during an argument at their apartment complex.
Miguel Mirabal, 51, was elected to the 11th Circuit Court last fall, but stepped down in April, the Miami Herald reports.
On Sunday, Mirabal was arrested after allegedly pointing a loaded weapon at a neighbor at his apartment complex in Coral Gables, near Miami.
According to an arrest report, Mirabal was unloading groceries from his car when his neighbor’s cousin asked the former judge to let him into the apartment complex.
The man allegedly explained that he had been locked out, and was unable to call his cousin because he’d left his cellphone in his apartment, the Coral Gables Police Department said.
Mirabal reportedly refused to let the man in through the complex’s parking garage.
Former Circuit Court Judge Miguel Mirabal, 51 (pictured) allegedly pointed a weapon at another resident in his apartment complex after he and the resident’s cousin got into a heated argument on Sunday, police said
‘The voters feel that I represent them, and that I have been an honest, fair and compassionate judge while following the law,’ former judge Miguel Mirabal said in a previous interview with The Daily Business Review
After the two argued, the man yelled for his cousin in the complex, who came downstairs to open the garage gate, police said.
The resident told police that he approached Mirabal to speak with him, and the former judge pulled out a gun.
According to the victim’s statement to police, Mirabal ‘pulled out a black gun with his right hand, point[ed] it at [the neighbor] and with his left hand pull[ed[ the slide of the weapon back twice.’
The man and his cousin called police as they hurried back to their apartment.
Coral Gables Police arrested Mirabal when his statement contradicted the neighbor’s 911 call, according to the Miami Herald.
Mirabal allegedly told officers that the neighbor’s cousin ‘threaten[ed] to fight’ him.
He told police that he held the weapon behind his back and ‘advised the witness that he is armed, and the witness stepped back and leaves’, the report said.
Mirabal refused to elaborate further when contacted by Dailymail.com, and said that his attorney would be ‘putting out a statement in the next couple weeks’ regarding the incident.
![Mirabal allegedly told officers that the neighbor's cousin 'threaten[ed] to fight' him, forcing him to brandish the weapon. He told Dailymail.com that '[his] attorney would be putting out a statement in the next couple weeks' regarding the incident](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/13/02/49095585-10085751-Mirabal_allegedly_told_officers_that_the_neighbor_s_cousin_threa-a-18_1634088715417.jpg)
Mirabal allegedly told officers that the neighbor’s cousin ‘threaten[ed] to fight’ him, forcing him to brandish the weapon. He told Dailymail.com that ‘[his] attorney would be putting out a statement in the next couple weeks’ regarding the incident
The Daily Business Review reported that Mirabal resigned from his judgeship ‘amid allegations of misconduct stemming from the time before he became a judge.’
‘The [Florida] Bar does have a file on Judge Mirabal, but it is on monitor status since The Florida Bar does not have jurisdiction over sitting judges,’ Leslie Smith, staff liason for the organization, told the outlet in April.
According to regulatory body’s website, Mirabal is currently in good standing with the bar, and operates a private law practice.
Mirabal was elected to the 11th Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County (pictured) last Fall before stepping down in April
In his 16 years as an attorney before he was elected, Mirabal was the in-house legal counsel for the Global Legal corporation in Coral Gables and practiced civil litigation and real estate. Previously, he was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.
‘The voters feel that I represent them, and that I have been an honest, fair and compassionate judge while following the law,’ Mirabal said in a previous interview with the Business Review.