Man convicted of harassing Carroll had judge’s address in pocket when arrested

When the former real estate agent
convicted of harassing Green Valley Justice of the Peace Ray Carroll was
arrested on outstanding warrants last month, he had $800 and a list of
his victims in his pocket along with his current judge’s name, home
address and phone number.

Michael Scaramella, 68, was sentenced
to three years of unsupervised probation Feb. 3 for interfering with
judicial proceedings in a case involving his former girlfriend. He was
also re-sentenced to six years of supervised probation for harassing
Carroll and a couple who were friends of the former girlfriend. The
longer sentence must be served first.

Scaramella had a four-inch cut on his arm and held a box-cutter when sheriff’s deputies entered his home to arrest him on Jan. 15. A deputy kicked him in the chest when he wouldn’t drop the knife, and he fell to the ground, police reports said.

Retired Pima County Superior
Court Judge John Davis’ sentences brought to an end more than four years
of legal wrangling and months of fear, according to witnesses.
Scaramella was a fugitive from justice from June 2023 until Jan. 15,
when the Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s Fugitive Investigations Unit
arrested him at a home on West Demetrie Loop in Green Valley.

The
first warrant for Scaramella’s arrest was issued in June 2023, after he
failed to show up for his trial and sentencing in the case involving
his former girlfriend. Then, Davis issued three more warrants for
Scaramella in September 2024, when he failed to show up in court after
he lost his appeals in the other cases and was supposed to be placed
back on probation.

According
to PCSD reports, a detective spent a month watching Scaramella’s home
after the warrants were issued in September, but he never saw Scaramella
or any movement in the house. In addition, spiderwebs began appearing
on Scaramella’s car.

Eventually, the detective heard Scaramella had left for Connecticut.

In
late December, the fugitive team heard from various sources that
Scaramella was back and having food delivered to him. On Jan. 9, the
team was provided a photo of Scaramella standing outside his residence,
the reports stated.

Knowing
that Scaramella had a history of not opening doors to law enforcement,
when the unit went to his home on Jan. 15, they shut off the breaker and
knocked on the door pretending to be with Tucson Electric Power, the
reports stated.

When
that didn’t work, the team consulted with the sheriff’s department legal
adviser and went to the door with a key provided by his landlord, who
said Scaramella hadn’t paid rent in months, the reports stated.

Three
times, the unit announced their presence, told Scaramella he was under
arrest and ordered him to come to the door, the reports stated.

Scaramella opened the door at the same time the key was inserted, the reports stated.

According
to the reports, Scaramella had a four-inch laceration to his left
forearm and a box cutter in his hand. Despite being told to drop the
weapon three times, deputies said Scaramella raised the knife and
appeared to point it at a sergeant.

“In
that moment, I decided that the best option was to deliver a front kick
to the chest area of Mr. Scaramella to at least create some distance
between us as we were just outside of arm’s reach from each other,” the
sergeant reported.

Scaramella fell to the ground and after he was detained, a tourniquet was applied to his arm, the reports stated.

Santa
Rita Fire District crews arrived to treat Scaramella and at least one
of the deputies overheard Scaramella make “vague threats” to his
neighbors as he was being wheeled to an ambulance, the report stated.

According
to the reports, Scaramella told deputies, paramedics and hospital staff
that he didn’t want to be treated, that he just wanted to die.

A detective reported that while at the hospital, Scaramella began to talk to him about his cases.

“Michael
continuously accused the Honorable Judge Carroll of the Pima County
Justice Courts of mishandling his case and accused his ex-girlfriend of
getting him into all of this trouble,” the detective wrote.

After
being released by medical staff and re-handcuffed, the detective wrote
that he searched Scaramella and found the cash and a piece of paper with
several names on it, including those of the former girlfriend, Carroll
and Davis. Davis’ phone number and address were also on it, the
detective wrote.

Where it started

In
2019, Scaramella’s former girlfriend applied for an Order of Protection
against him following an altercation inside their Green Valley home and
Carroll granted it.

According
to court testimony, Scaramella then began harassing Carroll and a
married couple who were friends of his former girlfriend.

During
separate trials in February 2022, Scaramella was convicted of two
counts of harassment for hounding the friends and of interfering with a
judicial proceeding and failure to comply with an injunction against
harassment in cases involving Carroll, a former member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

Scaramella
filed an appeal in each case, stating the trial judge made errors. As a
result, his probation was suspended after he served 215 days.

In
the meantime, Scaramella was convicted in absentia of interfering with
judicial proceedings in the case involving his former girlfriend and an
arrest warrant was issued in June 2023, when he failed to show up for
his sentencing.

Scaramella
lost his appeal, but he failed to show up in court in September 2024,
on the day Davis was scheduled to place him back on probation and
sentence him in the former girlfriend’s case. As a result, the judge
issued four arrest warrants.

Davis
expressed deep concerns for law enforcement agents when issuing the
warrants because Scaramella’s probation officer told him he’d filed a
report with the PCSD after being told by two women he encountered
outside Scaramella’s home that he had sworn to take revenge on all the
people “who have wronged him.” One of the women said Scaramella seemed
unstable and could be a danger to himself or others, the probation
officer said.

Should Scaramella violate his probation, he could face up to 157 days in jail in each of his cases.

In
addition to not being allowed to contact the victims directly, Davis
told Scaramella at his sentencing hearing he can’t contact them through
any third parties, which has been a problem in the past, Carroll said.