Fort Lauderdale condo residents believe man threw fire extinguishers from 3rd floor, damaging 7 cars

Article and Video Courtesy of Channel 7 News Miami

By Nicole Linsalata

Published March 29, 2021

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FORT LAUDERDALE - Some condominium residents in Fort Lauderdale were shocked to find several of their vehicles damaged, and they believe a man seen stumbling around the complex did it by throwing fire extinguishers from a third-story hallway.
 

Surveillance video captured the vandal wandering around the Gable Arm Condominiums along North Ocean Boulevard, early Thursday morning.

“I actually saw him on the landing, just a scary person,” said a resident who asked not to be identified or show her face on camera.

At first, the man, seen walking barefoot, appears to be impaired. Then he picked up the pace.

At around the same time, residents said they heard loud noises.

I heard this loud thud, and I’m like, ‘Wow, what was that?'” said resident Pat Patregnani.

 

His neighbors said that noise was the sound of fire extinguishers ripped from their boxes on the walls of the third-floor hallway and tossed onto the cars below.


“I heard glass crashing, like someone was throwing a bunch of things in the trash at 4 in the morning,” said the unidentified resident.

“It was all broken, the glass from the fire extinguisher next to my kitchen window,” said resident Millie DeLong. “He threw it down over and it hit my car.”

That fire extinguisher bounced into Patregnani’s SUV.

“They actually found the fire extinguisher inside,” he said.

In all, seven vehicles were damaged.

Residents believe the man captured on surveillance video had something to do with the vandalism.

A resident said she peeked outside and saw him carrying an extinguisher.

No one seems to know who he is or why he was stumbling around their building.

Soon after the man left, and the residents were trying to process what had happened, one person found a hat next to a stairwell. It appears to be the same hat the man was seen wearing in the security footage.

Residents said they’re scared, adding they don’t know who he is and why this happened.

“We haven’t slept since this happened, and I don’t know that we will for days,” said the unidentified resident.

The residents said they hope the public can help police find the man seen in the video.

If you have any information on this incident or the subject’s whereabouts, call Fort Lauderdale Police or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.

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