A homeless man is facing charges, accused of trespassing into Bonita Springs City Hall early Tuesday morning.
Lee County Sheriff's Office deputies said surveillance cameras caught 31-year-old Jamal Gambrel opening the east employee doors at 4:57 a.m. Tuesday.
Once he walked in, LCSO said Gambrel went through a stairwell, and entered council chambers, the front lobby, the reception area, and the finance department.
At 5 a.m., LCSO said a city hall employee entered city hall to start her workday and went to deactivate the alarms. To her surprise, the alarms were not activated.
Some Bonita Springs residents told NBC2 they believe this could be a dangerous mistake.
"It seems irresponsible on their part because they are giving way to many things that could harm the building and their employees," Lenis Castro said.
The city of Bonita Springs employee told deputies she saw a backpack and shoe at the finance department and Gambrel walking away from her coworkers' offices. She called 911.
Gambrel is accused of running out of the building toward Bonita Beach Road.
At 9:30 a.m., LCSO deputies spotted Gambrel walking south from the Sunoco gas station near Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41, just 0.3 miles away from city hall.
Deputies say Gambrel took off, but LCSO body-worn camera shows deputies catching Gambrel hiding in a bush.
"I would feel scared because you don’t know their intentions," Castro said. "That's a person that is very irresponsible."