A suspect is now in custody after attempting Aug. 24 to escape Brookhaven Police by climbing through a homemade trap door and into a crawl space leading to a SWAT standoff at an apartment complex on Buford Highway. Local schools were also locked down.
The suspect, Juan Lorenzo-Niño, 51, is charged with pimping, keeping a place of prostitution and felony obstruction of law enforcement.
The incident began about 12:30 p.m. on Friday when Brookhaven Police went to execute a search warrant for an alleged place of prostitution at 2826 Buford Highway, inside the Buckhead Creek Apartments, according to police.
As officers searched the apartment, Lorenzo-Niño fled into a crawl space underneath the building through a trap door he’d installed in the floor of his apartment, police said. Other officers prevented him from escaping the building and he barricaded himself inside the crawl space.
Brookhaven Police then called in the North Metro SWAT team made up of officers from the Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and Johns Creek police departments. The apartment complex was evacuated and SWAT eventually used tear gas to flush the suspect out, police said. Lorenzo-Niño surrendered at about 3:30 p.m. and was arrested.
DeKalb Schools also put Cross Keys High School, Sequoyah Middle School and Woodward Elementary School on lockdown from approximately 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Two other arrests were made related to this search warrant: Ana Luisa Oquenso, 34, is charged with prostitution and Hector Francisco Juarez-Flores, 39, is charged with pandering.
Evelyn Andrews contributed.