As the gunman confronted two 7-Eleven clerks at the checkout counter, one of the women was able to secretly tell her husband on the phone to call police.
Trae Riontae Slaughter, 30, was arrested about noon Tuesday in the gas station convenience store at 5590 W. Oakland Park Blvd., in Lauderhill.
He remains in the Broward County Jail without bond on seven charges that include false imprisonment, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and burglary with assault and battery, records show.
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When public defender Hector Romero proposed bond amounts at Slaughter’s first court appearance Wednesday -- as is his job -- Broward Circuit Judge Louis Schiff was not having it.
“Did you read this [arrest report]? Seriously, did you read this?” Schiff asked, in a raised voice. “Does it not offend you?”
"That's my friend who works at 7-Eleven," Slaughter said before Romero silenced him because anything Slaughter might say could be used against him.
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“Judge, I didn’t mean to upset the court,” said Romero, before the judge interrupted him.
“Hold on. My turn,” said Schiff.
“These are pretty egregious facts and the guy just got out of prison not too long ago and he didn’t learn his lesson the first time and now you want him back out on the street?” Schiff asked. “No.”
According to the arrest report, Slaughter loitered inside the store from about 10:15 a.m. until other customers left and then he asked one clerk for the other clerk by name.
They were suspicious because he was hanging around without buying anything. Slaughter went to the counter gripping a gun. One clerk asked, “Why do you have that gun out?” Slaughter answered, “I don’t like the energy I see in here right now,” the report stated.
That’s when one clerk got a call from her husband who was quietly told to call police.
Lauderhill officers arrived but the two women were too afraid to say anything with Slaughter now behind the counter. He asked the women for a 7-Eleven T-shirt to wear so police would think he was an employee. Then, one of the clerks ran to an officer, police said.
The store's surveillance cameras recorded everything on video, confirming what happened.
Slaughter was arrested without any problems and a 9mm Ruger handgun was confiscated.
Prison records show Slaughter served more than a year behind bars in 2012 after being convicted of selling stolen property to pawn shops.
