Brooklyn man arrested in Florida in SoHo store robbery

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn man was arrested in Florida in the brazen daylight armed robbery of a SoHo luxury store after authorities say he bragged about the heist on social media, authorities said Monday as the defendant was detained without bail.

Eric Spencer, 29, faced a single robbery charge after his Saturday arrest in Fort Lauderdale in the Feb. 2 robbery at a luxury Chanel store. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

He was detained without bail after a Monday hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

A message for comment was sent to Spencer’s court-appointed lawyer.

According to a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court, Spencer bragged on social media after the robbery that he had so many luxury items that he could open his own small boutique.

Spencer flashed the handle of a handgun toward security guards as he and three accomplices grabbed handbags and other merchandise worth $189,500, the complaint said.

Authorities credited arrests on the review of video images from the store, the street and Spencer’s Brooklyn neighborhood as well as social media posts by Spencer.

U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a release that Spencer “put the public and store personnel in grave danger when he committed a brazen daylight armed robbery of a SoHo boutique earlier this month.”

She said Spencer also allegedly threatened a store security guard by displaying the handle of his gun while he barked orders to his co-conspirators to “grab everything.”