FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — By day, River Market is one of Fort Lauderdale’s busiest shopping destinations. Families dine outside restaurants. Customers shop at Whole Foods, Sephora, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lululemon, and other retailers along North Federal Highway between Sunrise and Oakland Park boulevards.

But after sunset, Local 10 News documented something shoppers, employees and even the city’s mayor said they had no idea was happening.

Over several nights, Local 10 observed multiple people released from prison remaining overnight at or near the shopping center. Several individuals currently under Florida Department of Corrections supervision independently told Local 10 they are required to report to the area each evening and remain there overnight.

Some said they sleep in their vehicles. Others said they simply find a place to sit until morning.

The area offers no overnight restroom facilities, no shelter from the weather and no place to charge court-ordered electronic monitoring devices.

Local 10 approached numerous shoppers and employees. None agreed to be identified on camera. Several said they were surprised to learn what had been taking place after dark.

One shopper said public safety was the first concern that came to mind. Another said the public deserved to know what was happening.

Many of the individuals remaining overnight also declined interviews, saying they feared speaking publicly could affect their supervision. One man agreed to speak only if Local 10 concealed his identity.

Asked whether he was one of the people spending the night there, he replied, “Yes.”

When asked whether he had to remain there from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m., he answered, “Yeah. Twelve hours.”

He also said probation officers had conducted a compliance check at the shopping center earlier that day.

A second recently released offender, who is required to register as a sex offender, shared FDOC paperwork that he said was provided to him after his release from prison.

According to the offender, he did not have an approved place to live when he was released. He said he could not move in with relatives because residency restrictions prohibited him from living at that location.

He told Local 10 a probation officer gave him paperwork and instructed him where to report.

The Department document reviewed by Local 10 states the offender was “approved to reside” in the 2400 block of North Federal Highway.

The 2400 block of North Federal Highway is River Market.

The offender said he believed he was being sent to a shelter or halfway house. Instead, he said, he arrived at a shopping center.

Asked where he used the restroom during the night, he replied, “There wasn’t no bathroom.”

A family member told Local 10 that the family believed the state would provide some type of transitional housing. Instead, the family said they discovered the address on the paperwork corresponded to a shopping center, not a shelter or residential facility.

The family member said a probation officer told the offender to find a place behind one of the stores and remain there overnight. The family member also said questions about access to restrooms, shelter from rain and charging a court-ordered electronic monitoring device were never adequately answered.

The offender told Local 10 he would rather return to prison than spend another night there.

Local 10 also searched the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s public sex offender and predator registry.

That search identified approximately 180 transient registered sex offenders and sexual predators listing addresses between the 2400 and 2800 blocks of North Federal Highway and within approximately a 1-mile radius of River Market. The records span multiple years and identify numerous unrelated transient offenders reporting addresses along the same commercial corridor.

The FDOC declined Local 10’s request for an on-camera interview.

In a written statement, the Department said it “did not designate a business property as an offender’s residential address.”

The Department said offenders are responsible for identifying and reporting their residence to both the FDOC and the local sheriff’s office, while the Department verifies that a reported address complies with Florida law and local ordinances.

The Department also stated that offenders without traditional housing sometimes choose to stay in wooded areas, undeveloped land or other open spaces. Regarding the offender whose paperwork Local 10 reviewed, the Department said he “did not have a traditional housing structure” at the time of his release and has since relocated to what it described as a traditional residence.

Those statements differ from what Local 10 documented during its investigation.

Multiple individuals independently told Local 10 they were instructed to report to the River Market area and remain there overnight.

Local 10 also reviewed Department paperwork stating one offender was approved to reside in the 2400 block of North Federal Highway.

One individual also told Local 10 that probation officers had recently conducted a compliance check at the shopping center.

Because of those differences, Local 10 repeatedly asked the Department to explain how its written statement should be reconciled with the accounts provided by multiple individuals, the Department paperwork reviewed by Local 10, and the concentration of transient offenders reporting addresses along the same stretch of North Federal Highway.

Despite multiple follow-up requests seeking clarification before publication, the Department did not provide additional responses.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he first learned about the situation only after Local 10 began asking questions.

“We’re absolutely surprised by this,” Trantalis said. “I just learned about this last week. This is the first time I’ve heard about it.”

The mayor said the situation was “not an appropriate solution” for people attempting to reintegrate into society after prison. He said the city manager immediately directed Fort Lauderdale police to begin looking into the matter.

After Local 10’s inquiries, the city of Fort Lauderdale said police are now in discussions with the FDOC regarding concerns raised by the investigation.

The city also said it is not aware of any circumstances in which the FDOC has directed offenders to reside in specific locations within Fort Lauderdale.

Local 10 also repeatedly contacted EDENS, the company that owns River Market, asking whether it knew individuals under FDOC supervision were reportedly spending nights on or around the property and whether anyone from the state had ever notified the company the property was being used in that manner.

After multiple emails and phone calls, a representative working with EDENS returned one of Local 10’s calls and asked about the investigation.

After Local 10 explained the reporting and outlined its questions, no additional response was provided before publication despite further follow-up attempts.

The investigation leaves several questions unanswered.

If offenders independently identify and report where they will live, as the Department states, how does the Department explain multiple individuals independently telling Local 10 they were instructed to report to the same commercial area each night?

How does the Department reconcile its written statement with Department paperwork stating one offender was approved to reside in the 2400 block of North Federal Highway?

And how did approximately 180 transient registered offenders and predators come to list addresses between the 2400 and 2800 blocks of North Federal Highway and within approximately a one-mile radius of River Market?

Those questions remain unanswered.

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