FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A man who barricaded himself inside an apartment in Fort Lauderdale was taken into custody by authorities Wednesday afternoon.
Fort Lauderdale police arrived at the scene near the 800 block of Northwest 12th Avenue just before 10:30 a.m.
The suspect’s mother identified the man as 27-year-old Spinsir Easley.
According to police, Easley was connected to a strong-armed robbery in Oakland Park.
Easley faced a Broward County judge Thursday who faces a number of charges that include armed robbery and battery on a person 65 years or older.
He was ordered to have no contact with the victim and was banned from a Home Depot store where the original incident occurred.
A Local 10 News crew was at the scene when SWAT officers and Fort Lauderdale police were able to get Easley to come out of the apartment before detaining him around 3:45 p.m.
After the nearly six-hour barricade situation, Easley was taken into custody but not before Fort Lauderdale police went into the wrong apartment.
Trenise Thomas, who owns a home across from the crime scene, told Local 10 News that she’s waiting to hear from police after she claims they damaged her home during the search for Easley.
“They thought the suspect was in my apartment. Turns out, he wasn’t,” she said.
Easley was in the adjacent apartment, which has left Thomas frustrated and looking for answers.
“I have three kids with a heart condition. My mother is also sickly and we can’t sleep in here,” she said.
A Local 10 News crew went inside Thomas’ apartment where there was apparent damage to the front door, and glass and ruminates of the frame of her front window were shattered through.
Local 10 cameras also spotted a window of the home totally blown out and the bed was left a mess.
“Now I’m feeling as to what am I going to do? I don’t have family where I can say, ‘Aunty, can I come to your house?’ I don’t have that,” she said.
Thomas said she will now wait to hear from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department to see if they will assess the damage and help her find a temporary place to live.
Thomas said her the apartment was left with a heavy stench of tear gas and left in an unlivable condition.
“I mean there is stuff everywhere. They went in closets. They flipped over the bed and threw all my kids’ clothes on the floor. That powder stuff is on everything,” she said.
Thomas returned to her home Thursday after the City of Fort Lauderdale provided her single-night stay at a nearby hotel with her three disabled children and mother following the incident. She is hopeful they will continue to assist her and make the necessary repairs.
Local 10 News spoke with police who said witnesses believed Easley was in the apartment where Thomas lives. They said the Broward Sheriff’s Office authorized a warrant to enter her apartment and the second apartment where Easily was arrested.
Thomas said the incident could’ve been avoided if they just listened to her.
Local 10 News was at the home Friday evening where Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crew members were ventilating the home.
The dust and residue left behind after SWAT Team members stormed in were still visible.
Local 10 News reporter Roy Ramos said you can still smell the stench of what appeared to be tear gas or pepper spray.
Thomas moved all of her family’s clothing outside and said she would take it to a nearby hotel to wash it. She is hopeful by then, all the repairs will be made so she can move all of her stuff back inside the home.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department released the following statement, in part, which you can read here: