A standoff involving a SWAT team unfolded at a Miami Beach apartment complex where a man barricaded himself inside a unit. The situation began late yesterday evening and persisted well into the early hours today when the man was taken into custody, according to information provided by witnesses to Local 10 News.
The area around Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street was sealed off by Miami Beach police as they engaged in negotiations with the suspect. According to witnesses, the man became aggressive after a confrontation with a family in the courtyard the previous night, "He came in, flipped the table. I don’t want to say exactly what was going on because there was a lot of profanity involved, you know. But he pretty much flipped the table, it hit a girl – made the little girl’s leg bleed," a witness recounted to Local 10 News. Efforts to establish communication included multiple appeals via megaphone, and attempts to offer concessions, like food and cigarettes to the man, all of which, did not elicit a response from him.
Eventually, the man surrendered to the authorities without further incident and was seen being escorted out by police, as shown in NBC6's video coverage. Neighbors reported the individual has had several encounters with law enforcement, highlighting a pattern of calls to police involving the man's residence.
"He’s had numerous run-ins with the cops. They’re always here for him. And I guess the straw was tonight… there was some people throwing a little party out front, and he went and flipped the table, and it landed on a little girl, and the little girl started bleeding," Micah Smith, a local resident, told NBC6. Police operations concluded roughly around 5 a.m. and normalcy was restored to the area, shortly, after the detainment. While the incident culminated without additional altercations, officials have yet to release the name of the individual or to further detail the circumstances leading to his detainment.
