FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After a brazen daylight armed robbery at the Chanel SoHo boutique in Manhattan, federal agents said a Brooklyn suspect decided to run and hide in South Florida.
The FBI-NYPD Joint Major Theft Task Force identified the suspect as Eric Spencer and tracked him to Fort Lauderdale. They are still searching for his accomplices.
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Records show Spencer, 29, was arrested on Saturday, and he appeared in front of Judge Jared M. Strauss on Monday at the U.S. Federal Building and Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.
According to FBI Special Agent Brian Smith, he and a few accomplices robbed about $189,500 in merchandise on Feb. 2 from the store in New York. U.S Attorney Audrey Strauss told reporters Spencer displayed the handle of his gun to threaten a store security guard.
“Spencer put the public and store personnel in grave danger,” Strauss said in a statement.
Spencer and his accomplices first fled in a four-door Audi with an untraceable tag. There were mistakes. According to Smith, Spencer used social media on Feb. 3 to boast about having enough “Double C” to open his own “small boutique.”
FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a statement that FBI agents and NYPD detectives are working together to find the other members of Spencer’s robbery crew.
Since the brazen daylight robbery of Chanel, in Soho, the FBI-NYPD Joint Major Theft Task Force never stopped working. The trail led to Florida with one arrest on Saturday. The investigation is ongoing. https://t.co/PK3IfOQ7Nt pic.twitter.com/eZGwzcd8ib
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) February 22, 2021
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Guadalupe Monarrez contributed to this report.