HARTFORD, Conn. -- Eyewitness News has learned that a man accused of threatening to kill his girlfriend was mistakenly released from police custody.

Officials said the man's release was the result of a mix-up between the Hartford Police Department and state judicial system.

Hartford police said they are searching for 39-year-old Gregory Snipes, who is accused of threatening to shoot and kill his girlfriend.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Len Besthoff reported that Snipes was in custody at Hartford Community Court on Wednesday morning on a minor drug charge. He was then mistakenly released, police said.

Police said that hours earlier, a Hartford police officer had dropped off a domestic violence warrant at the criminal court across the street, which that should have kept him in police custody.

The state judicial branch said it believes Snipes was let go because it was not the regular officer dropping off warrants, and that he simply gave them to the clerk's office, instead of physically presenting them to Snipes.

Besthoff reported that without the warrant judicial marshals had no reason to keep Snipes.

Sources told Eyewitness News that there may have been a note or fax on Snipes' file that instructed community court officers not to let him go because of the domestic violence warrant.

The state judicial branch admitted that it is possible, and said it would keep Eyewitness News informed as its internal investigation continued.