Fort Lauderdale’s busiest shopping center, the River Market, has reportedly become a den of inequity at night, according to a local investigation.
Reporters with Miami station WPLG discovered that at night, the shopping center transforms into a home for former prison inmates and other deviants, thanks in part, it appears, to the Florida Department of Corrections.
“Over several nights, [reporters] observed multiple people released from prison remaining overnight at or near the shopping center,” the station reported.
“Several individuals currently under Florida Department of Corrections [FDOC] supervision independently told [reporters] 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,” according to the station.
Former Inmates Told to Report to Shopping Center from 7pm-7am😲
A hidden camera investigation by WPLG Local 10 News has revealed that former inmates are secretly spending nights at the River Market shopping center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Property records and tracking later… pic.twitter.com/xYD6lX8wHN
— American Crime Stories (@AmericanCrime01) June 29, 2026
According to one of the people who was found in the shopping center at night, he was told by the FDOC that he must remain in the shopping center from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am. He also admitted that a probation officer had conducted a compliance check at that very shopping center earlier in the day.
WPLG reporters also spoke with a registered sex offender who was recently released from prison and told to report to the shopping center because he has nowhere else to live.
An FDOC document reviewed by the station’s reporters said he was “approved to reside” at River Market.
This despite the market offering “no overnight restroom facilities, no shelter from the weather and no place to charge court-ordered electronic monitoring devices,” according to WPLG.
One of the sex offender’s family members told the station that they had assumed that the state would hook him up with some sort of transitional housing.
“The family member said a probation officer told the offender to find a place behind one of the stores [at River Market] and remain there overnight,” according to the station. “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 sex offender was so bothered by the conditions at River Market that he said he’d rather go back to prison than remain there.
When the station searched FDOC records, they discovered that another 180 “transient registered sex offenders and sexual predators” have been “living”/hanging out at River Market.
“The records span multiple years and identify numerous unrelated transient offenders reporting addresses along the same commercial corridor,” the station noted.
In a statement to the station, FDOC denied everything, claiming 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,” according to the station. “[FDOC] also stated that offenders without traditional housing sometimes choose to stay in wooded areas, undeveloped land or other open spaces.”
As for the specific sex offender the station spoke to, FDOC said he “did not have a traditional housing structure” but has since relocated to a so-called traditional residence.
However, the station noted that what FDOC said to it differed from what it observed on the ground at River Market, namely that there were in fact many criminals staying there.
“Because of those differences, [reporters] repeatedly asked the Department to explain how its written statement should be reconciled with the accounts provided by multiple individuals,” the station reported.
But the FDOC conveniently declined to answer.
Speaking with the station, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis stressed that placing dangerous convicts in a public shopping mall is “not an appropriate solution.”
Thanks to the station’s reporting, the Fort Lauderdale Police are now aware of the discussion and are reportedly in discussion with FDOC about the public’s safety concerns.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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