Police alerted to ‘sovereign’ renter

CALGARY — Police in Montreal say they have been in contact with their Calgary counterparts regarding a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen who is said to have a history of claiming rental properties as “embassies” and refusing to leave.

Andreas Pirelli, 48, who sources have confirmed also goes by Mario Antonacci, was charged with pushing a landlady down a flight of stairs in Montreal in 2007. An arrest warrant was issued in May 2010 when he failed to show up during his trial.

Pirelli resurfaced in Alberta this week, when senior Rebekah Caverhill went public with her two-year battle to get him out of her Calgary rental duplex. She says he identified himself as a follower of the Freemen-on-the-Land movement, claimed the property as an embassy, changed the locks and placed a lien on the home.

“The Montreal police is in contact with the Calgary police regarding Mr. Antonacci, since we have events here linked to him,” confirmed Marie-Elaine Ladouceur, a Montreal police spokeswoman in an email to The Canadian Press.

Quebec’s office of public prosecutions said the Montreal trial continued without the accused and the Crown completed presenting its evidence. Jean-Pascal Boucher, a spokesman for the Crown, said his office is aware of reports out of Calgary this week, but is waiting for more information.

“The authorities will ensure that the warrant is enforceable anywhere in Canada,” Boucher said.

Calgary police spokesman Michael Nunn says they have been in touch with authorities in Montreal about the case. He did not comment further.

The Montreal trial involved an alleged assault on a woman, Jocelyne Malouf, who said she allowed Antonacci to house-sit a home rentfree for five months while its occupant was out of the country.

Malouf told The Canadian Press she had problems when asking him to leave.

“He was trying to keep the apartment for him without paying nothing,” she said.

She alleges he threw her down a flight of stairs breaking her pelvis, arm, wrist and ankle. Malouf said she was then picked up and thrown onto the street.

An email request for comment from Pirelli was not returned Thursday.

He had previously responded to requests for comment on Caverhill’s allegations with a warning that he has trademark claims on the name “Andreas Pirelli” and “The First Nations Sovran Embassy of Earth.”