Hours-long standoff at San Carlos Park home Monday ends with man facing assault charges

A San Carlos Park man is facing assault charges after an hours-long standoff with the Lee County Sheriff's Office on Monday afternoon.

David Auger, 63, remains in Lee County Jail with bond not yet set and an arraignment slated for June 13. A first appearance is scheduled.

Sheriff's Office deputies used nearly the department's entire arsenal to remove Auger from his home along San Carlos Boulevard: flash bangs, battering ram, pepper spray and more.

Lasting from shortly after 1 p.m. to about 6 p.m., deputies diverted traffic from San Carlos Boulevard at Camellia Road to Columbine Road.

Sheriff Carmine Marceno said deputies were called to Auger's home after reports he was naked outside his home and exposing himself.

"Patrol district deputies pull up, they engage him, they begin talking to him, and he arms himself with a knife and a screwdriver," Marceno said.

Auger then ran through the house, gets another knife and, the sheriff said, threatens the life of a deputy.

From that point on the Sheriff's Office ramped up its response, bringing in a tactical unit, several drones, and medics. Traffic along San Carlos Boulevard as shut down for several hours and Lee County schools were alerted due to children being bused home.

By about 5:15 p. m., when Auger exited the home and began gesturing wildly in the front yard, deputies used pepper spray and a flash bang — a grenade-type tool that flashes light and issues a loud noise — and he returned inside.

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A short time later, deputies used a battering ram, called "the Rook," to access the home through the front door and a window. Deputies made multiple attempts over a loudspeaker calling out "Dave, come out the front door with your hands up"

The yard in the 1,500-ssingle-family home was filled with discarded household items.

Marceno said the mess of belongings in the front yard, furniture, clothing and other items, had been a point of contention in the neighborhood.

"A few days ago, we were out here for the same thing," the sheriff said about the haphazard yard mess.

Auger also has a lengthy court record including previous assaults and domestic battery.

A nearby neighbor said she knows Auger.

"He's a very nice man," Carol Gilberti said. "He helped me with some electrical work."

She said she sees him from time to time walking to and from the store.

"He was very sweet," she said. "He's never hurt anybody."

By about 6 p.m. the Sheriff's Office made a move, using the battering ram to break a window area, a debilitating type of tear gas was used and, a few minutes later, deputies in tactical dear could be seen leading Auger out of the now-shattered front door.

Neighbors gathered to watch the incident clapped and cheered at the conclusion.

Marceno said the Sheriff's Office would return and clean up the belongings strewn around Auger's yard and said that if Auger needs help beyond criminal charges for assaulting a police officer he would get it.

The Sheriff also said Auger told deputies he had been a member of a nationally known outlaw motorcycle gang.

"Our suspect happened to say before he got in the car ... that he was very, very proud to have spent 50 years with the Pagans and that he was a proud gang member," Marceno said. "Well today, they lost. Today, team Lee County Sheriff's Office wins the game."

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: LCSO confronts barricaded man in San Carlos Park; takes him into custody