Hialeah suspect barricades himself, surrenders after 5 hours, police say
Hialeah police say an armed suspect who barricaded himself in a business surrendered after a standoff of about 5 hours on Thursday.
CBS News Miami is learning new details about the suspect. Lt. Eddie Rodriguez identified him as 60-year-old Jose Luis Antigua-Martinez and said he was wanted for a sex battery on a minor.
Police sealed off surrounding streets while they called in a crisis negotiation team and their SWAT team as they tried to make contact with Antigua-Martinez. It happened at West 8th Ave. and 83rd St., right next to the Gratigny Parkway.
Rodriguez said it was around 8 a.m. when officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant.
"When officers arrived at the warehouse, the subject saw officers, and he armed himself with a gun and barricaded himself inside," said Rodriguez. "Once he barricaded himself, we were able to call our SWAT team and crisis negotiation team, and thankfully, because of their patience and their capabilities, we were able to convince him to come out peacefully and surrender to authorities."
Rodriguez said no one was injured.
"What I am happy about is one dangerous individual is off the streets of Hialeah," he said. "It could have ended much worse, but it ended peacefully."
Rodriguez said it's not clear why Antigua-Martinez barricaded himself inside the business, but he will now face additional charges beyond sex battery on a minor. Rodriguez said that the charge is so serious that it can mean life in prison if someone is convicted of that crime.
Neighbor Felipe Garcia described some tense moments at the scene.
"I saw a lot of SWAT team people and Hialeah Police," said Garcia. "It is scary. It is shocking. I have been here 20 years, and I have not seen anything like that happen ... I have a friend in a body shop there, and he was told to stay inside his shop. There are a lot of little shops, family shops, mechanical shops there."