Stefan Pizzi and Adriana Ocampo say they came home to find their backyard oak tree gone, and now they say the paperwork that allowed it to happen was forged. The couple, who own a duplex at 220 Northwest 47th Street in Miami’s Buena Vista West neighborhood, say tree service workers cut down a 100-year-old oak that stood 45 feet tall with a canopy spanning more than 50 feet. What started as a neighborhood dispute over a beloved shade tree has since escalated into a criminal forgery investigation by the Miami Police Department.
According to reporting by The Real Deal, tree service workers entered Pizzi’s backyard in April 2025 and removed the oak along with roughly four dozen smaller trees along the property line. Pizzi alleges that the signatures on JF Property Holdings’ consent letter for the removal permit were forged, and he says he and Ocampo never authorized the oak’s removal. The Real Deal’s Francisco Alvarado reported that JF Property Holdings had submitted a notarized document to the city to obtain the tree removal permit. Albert Serra and William Rios are named as principals of JF Property Holdings, which had developed a two-story cube home next door at 226 Northwest 47th Street.
The forgery allegations aren’t limited to Pizzi’s property. Cristobal Flanagan said in December 2024 that his father, Thomas Flanagan — who was living in Chile at the time — never signed a letter consenting to the removal of a Brazilian pepper tree, according to the same report.
A Lawsuit Narrowed, But Not Dismissed
Pizzi and Ocampo, who bought the three-bedroom property for $655,000 in 2023, sued JF Property, William Rios, Ricardo Cabrera, RC Construction and Investments, and Jorge Rousseau, seeking $1.5 million in damages. In July, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Daryl Trawick partially dismissed the suit, ruling that Pizzi and Ocampo lacked standing on the fraud and forgery count because the alleged fraud — submitting a forged document to obtain a city permit — was legally committed against the City of Miami rather than the homeowners themselves, the outlet reported. Trawick did allow the trespassing and conversion counts to proceed…