FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - SWAT teams and FBI agents established a perimeter around a house at the River Oaks neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale after a subject barricaded himself inside a residence.
The FBI and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLPD) arrived on scene at 1021 SW 21st Street to provide assistance to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
7Skyforce, arriving first on scene, showed aerial footage of the federal agencies conducting their investigation.
The sound of flash grenades echoed in the community as the SWAT team exercised their entry techniques. They used their armored cars to remove a vehicle from the driveway and another to gain access to the home.
Cellphone video shows the man surrendering as teams forced their way in and cleared the home.
“Walk backwards. Do not go back inside,” said an agent.
The alleged subject is in custody, but what prompted this raid is unclear.
Kashi and Angela, roommates of the detained man, say they were startled by cops surrounding the home with long guns around 6 a.m.
“Me leaving my house to go to my first morning meditation session with a client, with assault rifles in my face. ‘So how did it feel?’ It was [expletive] up,” said Kashi.
Kashi say that the man is accused of doing medical fraud, but 7News have not confirmed this with officials.
“They said that he did medical fraud, but I don’t know what that would mean and from my understanding, he’s a good guy, with a good heart, who was just struggling a little bit with some addiction issues,” said Kashi.
Kashi also telling 7News that the suspect wasn’t evading police and that the situation was a standoff. He claimed that the suspect might have been sleeping when officials arrived and wasn’t coherent enough to hear the phone or instruction from the police to come outside of the home.
“He wasn’t answering the phone for an hour. He was laying there nodding off,” said Kashi.
“He’s been working through some drugs stuff,” added Angela.
Although the stand off ended peacefully, a trail of destruction is left behind. Now, the roommates are left cleaning up the mess.
“Any normal person going through what we just went through, that isn’t good at transmuting painful emotions, this would be a very traumatic event for them. For sure, how we were treated,” said Kashi.
HHS agents confirmed they served an arrest warrant on Friday morning as part of law enforcement procedure. They have not released the man’s identity and any charges he may face.
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