Two months before slayings, suspect broke into home. He was with one of the victims, cops say

The Bradenton teenager charged in the shooting that killed two of his friends was with one of the victims in May when he was arrested for breaking into another teen’s home and beating him up.

Joe Clerjuste, 17, surrendered Thursday to the Denver Police Department in Colorado. He was wanted by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in connection with last weekend’s shooting deaths of Caleb Bowman and Kemundrey Pittmon, both 18..

This was not Clerjuste’ first arrest this year.

A week after the high school massacre in Parkland, Cejuste on Feb. 21 was charged with making a threat against Manatee High School, after he posted a Snapchat showing him carrying a gun while riding in a car near campus. It was one of more than a dozen similar threats investigated by local authorities in the days after the Parkland shooting, which left 17 students and staff members dead.

And in May , Clerjuste was arrested by the sheriff’s office and charged with burglary with an assault or battery.

At about 3 a.m. May 20, Clerjuste received a phone call from a friend saying he had been beaten up, according to a sheriff’s office arrest report. Deputies say Clerjuste went to the home of the alleged attacker, kicked down a door and began punching him in the face.

The fight began in the victim’s bedroom and ended up in his father’s bedroom before the father was able to intervene and Clerjuste left in a gold sedan, according to the report.

Bowman was with Clerjuste during the incident, but he was not involved in the beating, according to the sheriff’s office.

Clerjuste, who the victim knew and was able to quickly identify, was arrested less than 20 minutes later at his home.

According to the arrest report, both the victims eyes swollen as a result of the beating and the door Clerjuste had been kicked off its hinges.

Clerjuste faces charges in connection with the deaths of Bowman and Pittman. The apparent crime scene was behind the Aaron’s rental store at 2114 Cortez Road.

Clerjuste remains in jail in Denver, waiting extradition back to Manatee County.

This story was originally published July 27, 2018 at 8:01 AM with the headline "Two months before slayings, suspect broke into home. He was with one of the victims, cops say."