Wilton Manors man bonds out of jail after nearly 2-hour barricade over Amazon package dispute
Wilton Manors police arrested a man at an apartment complex after an armed robbery call escalated into a barricaded standoff on Thursday evening, officials say.
The police department said that they responded to the reported call in the area of Manor Grove Apartments, located in the 1900 block of North Andrews Avenue. When officers arrived, the situation had escalated when the suspect, who has since been identified as George Manuel Mandes, barricaded himself inside one of the apartment units.
Neighbors say that Mandes pulled a gun on an Amazon delivery driver that he believed had taken a package from his door, which set the nearly two-hour barricade situation at the complex.
Security video obtained by CBS News Miami shows the delivery driver dropping a package at a front door, looking around, and then picking the item back up. Minutes later, at approximately 4:07 p.m., a resident walked down the hallway armed with a gun.
Alex Dorsey, a neighbor in the apartment complex, described what he saw during the incident.
"Took a picture of the package and proceeded to pick up the package right afterwards," Dorsey said. "Neighbor wasn't having it. It's Florida. Came out with a gun. From there, it escalated to where it was."
Fort Lauderdale Police Department's SWAT team and crisis negotiators were called in to assist.
In the two hours when the incident was occurring, authorities asked families in the area to stay inside while they worked to get Mandes out of his apartment.
Neighbor Rafi Gossett described the police response as "intense."
"It was just tons of like G.I. Joe-level SWAT team Power Ranger stuff going on, and it was really scary," Gossett said. "They were just geared up. They blocked off everything. It was crazy."
After tactical and negotiation efforts, officers took Mandes into custody without further incident, police said. Doorbell video shows Mandes walking out of his apartment just before 6 p.m. with his hands above his head.
He faces charges of aggravated assault with a firearm.
Neighbors say Mandes is not violent.
When Neighbor Paul Baker was asked directly whether the suspect is a dangerous person, he replied, "No, not at all."
Police said the scene has been secured and there is no active threat to the community.
The driver was seen speaking with officers at the scene before leaving in his van. Police say that the driver left the package at Mandes's home and quickly picked it back up when he realized he delivered it to the wrong apartment.
Mandes bonded out of jail Friday evening, but his bond amount is unknown. Cameras captured Mandes walking out of jail, where he denied the allegations and claimed, "it was all a misunderstanding."