DeKalb County

Man barricaded inside crawl space, entire apartment complex put on lockdown

BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — A tense standoff put three DeKalb County schools and an entire apartment complex on lockdown after a man barricaded himself inside a Brookhaven apartment.

Brookhaven police said they were trying to serve a warrant around 12:30 p.m. at the Buckhead Plaza Apartment Homes along Buford Highway. The warrant was for charges related to a prostitution investigation.

When police got into the apartment, they said Juan Lorenzo-Nino tried to run from police through a self-made crawl space that he accessed through a trap door.

"It appears to be something that they created, that was not a standard feature of the apartment," Sgt. Brandon Gurley of the Brookhaven Police Department said. "He barricaded into a crawl space that goes throughout the entire building and connects over to another building."

Gurley said that’s when they called in the North Metro SWAT team, made up of several neighboring police agencies, to try and get Lorenzo-Nino out of the building.

"We had to evacuate the entire two buildings that were connected before we could begin tactical operations to try and get him out," Gurley said.

Shortly before 4 p.m., Channel 2's Dave Huddleston watched as officers led Lorenzo-Nino away in handcuffs.

Police said Lorenzo-Nino surrendered after officers used "tear gas and other tactical means" to coax him out of the crawl space.

Lorenzo-Nino was charged with keeping a place of prostitution, pimping and felony obstruction of law enforcement.

Two other were arrested in the incident.

Ana Luisa Oquendo was charged with prostitution and Hector Francisco Juarez-Flores was charged with pandering.

Gurley said a Brookhaven police officer was injured during the incident when a police K-9 bit the officer by mistake. That officer was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to be OK.