Man at centre of bitter Calgary rental dispute arrested on outstanding warrants

CALGARY – Calgary police have arrested a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen who had declared a rental home his embassy and refused to leave.

Police took Andreas Pirelli, also known as Mario Antonacci, into custody at the northwest Calgary duplex at about 2 local time this morning.

Pirelli, who is 48, was arrested on as many as nine outstanding warrants issued by courts in Quebec, and duty Insp. Darrell Hesse says he will remain in custody until he is transported back.

Pirelli 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.

Alberta senior, Rebekah Caverhill, has been locked in a two-year battle with Pirelli, who she says identified himself as a follower of the Freemen-on-the-Land movement, changed the locks on the house, refused to leave and placed a lien on her home.