Landlord traps tenants in garage for 2 hours and threatens to kill them, Florida cops say

A landlord locked his tenants in their garage apartment for two hours and threatened to kill them if they tried to leave, according to a Florida sheriff’s office.

A resident called law enforcement in Orange City at around 3:40 p.m. Jan. 3 and said that his landlord had locked him and two other tenants in the garage and was refusing to let them out, according to an arrest affidavit from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.

The only way out of the garage was through the main house, and the landlord had told the tenants that he had a firearm and would kill them if they entered the house, the affidavit says.

Deputies went to the house and found the landlord, a 66-year-old man, with a weapon that was later determined to be a BB gun, according to the affidavit. They also saw that a “large knife” was within his arm’s reach.

Deputies were able to speak with the people trapped in the garage. They said they were “stuck in here” and needed help, the affidavit says.

A chair had been placed under the doorknob of the door leading to the garage “in a clear attempt to contain the people in the garage,” the affidavit says.

When deputies tried to approach the landlord, he resisted and refused to place his hands behind his back despite their commands, the affidavit says. They tased him twice, and he continued to struggle, according to the affidavit. A deputy struck his face several times and was eventually able to put him in handcuffs.

The landlord is facing three counts of false imprisonment and one count of resisting arrest, according to the arrest affidavit. He is being held in the Volusia County jail, according to sheriff’s office records.

This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Landlord traps tenants in garage for 2 hours and threatens to kill them, Florida cops say."