Former Miami Beach officer accused in road rage incident attacked man in Sawgrass Mills parking lot, internal affairs report says – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – A newly retired Miami Beach Police officer who was arrested for road rage was also involved in a chaotic armed confrontation in the parking lot of a local shopping center, according to his internal affairs file.

Frank Celestre has got a pending case in what investigators described as a road rage encounter along Interstate 75 in Miramar back in May.

According to his arrest report, the former police officer committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon “by pointing the firearm at the victim during a road rage incident.”

On Aug. 23, Celestre faced a judge after his arrest and was given a $20,000 bond.

In a statement from Miami Beach Police, a department spokesperson wrote, “The involved officer has retired/separated from the city as of August 31, 2023.”

7News then requested and received Celestre’s internal affairs file, and it reveals more gun-related trouble in Broward County.

The internal affairs report states that back in 2019, at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, Celestre had a “physical altercation in the mall’s parking lot.”

Investigators said Celestre “drove his City of Miami Beach Police department issued marked patrol unit to Sawgrass Mills Mall to spy on his wife.”

While in his marked police vehicle, the report states, Celestre entered a section of the parking lot to look for his wife.

But instead of finding her, the report states, the former police officer spotted her parked Mercedes-Benz. He later saw an unknown man and woman walk up to the car, which he owned, and enter it. That’s what set him off.

The internal affairs report states Celestre’s wife was out at one of the mall’s bars, and she had asked friends to go retrieve her car in the parking lot. Those friends are the ones who encountered Celestre.

The report states that the man who entered the Mercedes later told police, “That’s when this gentleman showed up with a gun pointing at me through the windshield.”

The man told detectives that Celestre, whom he’d never met, attacked him, stating, “He pushed me to the floor and started kicking, and the last thing I remember, you know, he kicked my head, the back of my head and neck, and I felt [faint]. I lost vision for [a] few seconds.”

The report states Celestre got into the Mercedes and drove off, and the injured man later “went to the hospital.”

The man opted not to press charges with the Sunrise Police Department.

At the time of the incident, the report states, Miami Beach Police disciplined Celestre with a “suspension [and] 160 hours and anger management training.”

7News attempted to reach Celestre and were told by a member of his family over the phone that his attorney will eventually reach out. As of late Wednesday night, that has not happened.

Copyright 2023 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.