MIAMI (WSVN) – A man was arrested and charged following an overnight large-scale manhunt at a high-rise in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood that, police said, has the suspect scaling the buiding, going from balcony to balcony in an attempt to elude authorities.
Cellphone video showed the man, later identified as Peter Peraza, as climbed down the Bay Parc Apartments, located in the 1700 block of North Bayshore Drive, near Biscayne Boulevard, Tuesday night.
“Real Spider-Man,” a witness was heard saying in the video. “He has no chance of getting away.”
Residents at the apartment complex described the chaos to 7News on Wednesday.
“It’s just crazy,” said a man who lives in the building.
“All the roads were just shut down. There was police everywhere,” said witness Lauren Bergman.
“Just thinking, you know, the worst,” said a woman who lives in the building.
According to City of Miami Police, officers were trying to execute an arrest warrant on Peter Peraza following an incident on April 1.
An altercation between Peraza and another man turned physical after the latter’s ex-girlfriend, Lillian Goodman, showed up unannounced at his apartment, located along Southwest South River Drive in Miami, demanding he give her money for rent, according to police.
When he refused, police said, Goodman threatened him and called her friend, Peraza, who kicked the other man and told him he could murder him. Peraza and Goodman then stole the victim’s phone, laptop, Gucci watch and camera.
The victim then attempted to escape, but he fell and broke his foot. He then approached the front desk and asked them to notify authorities. According to social media, Peraza is a fighter associated with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
“So, we knew he was a fighter, or somebody that was determined,” said Lauren Bergman, a witness. “We kept thinking, ‘Well, what is so bad on the other end of the law that he’s trying to evade that?’”
Fas forward to Tuesday night, when things escalated into a standoff that lasted several hours. Special response teams swarmed the neighborhood after obtaining enough evidence to execute an arrest warrant., which left people locked out of their homes and feeling uneasy.
“They told me I couldn’t come outside, so I went back to my apartment to lock my door and lock my balcony, but my balcony didn’t lock, and they were telling us that someone was scaling the building,” said Bergman.
As the rumors continues to spread, Bergman came down to the lobby to stay safe. Some of those rumors alleged the suspect had killed his wife.
“So we originally heard that he had killed his wife,” she said. “I don’t know where that rumor started, but it was scaring a lot of people to know that there could possibly be someone that dangerous in the building.”
Cellphone video shows heavily armed officers entering the building and searching floor by floor for Peraza, who was seen scaling balconies in an attempt to evade arrest.
Many residents received emergency alerts advising them to stay indoors and secure their doors and balconies. However, those attempting to enter their homes — some delayed after walking their pets — were left stranded outside during the hours-long standoff.
“Nobody really thinks that when you live in a high-rise, you have to lock your balcony door,” said Bergman.
“Just thinking, you know, the worst,” said another resident. “I think maybe the biggest reason why I moved here is because we all want to feel safe, we all want to feel secure, and we all want to live somewhere where we feel something like this couldn’t happen. I live by myself, so as someone who is a woman who lives by herself, that is really scary.”
“A lot of movement. There are a lot of police officers around. A lot of cops, a lot of vehicles. Definitely there was something big going on. It happens quite often around here in this neighborhood, honestly, sadly, I guess,” said a man. “They wouldn’t tell us anything. I couldn’t even walk my dog. It’s crazy.”
Peraza went down seven floors, from the 19th floor to the 12th, until he finally climbed into an apartment and hid there. Fortunately, there was no one home.
“I was next to our property manager when our property manager received the call,” said Lauren. “He picked up the phone, and the call said, ‘He’s in my apartment, he’s in my apartment. Help.’ And our property manager ran as fast as he could outside so he could speak to police.”
Officers managed to find him not long after and were seen in a video recorded by Bergman escorting him out of the apartment in handcuffs and with a shirt over his head.
Peraza appeared before Miami-Dade Circuir Judge Mindy S. Glazer on Wednesday afternoon.
“From April 1st, it’s a burglary with an assault or battery, which is a crime punishable by life in prison if you are found guilty,” said Glazer. “Also imprisonment, grand theft, criminal mischief over $1,000, tampering with the victim and strong-arm robbery, burglary to an unoccupied dwelling and resisting an officer without violence.”
Pereza is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade.
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