Police look to solve mystery of man found with cache of fake IDs, Boy Scout uniforms, NASA flight suit
Police in Florida are asking for the public's help in the unusual case of Roy Antigua, a 52-year-old man who was found in possession of a cache of fake IDs—including CIA, Coast Guard and hospital badges—medical paraphernalia and a NASA flight suit and space helmet.
"In 20 years, I've never seen anything this elaborate," New Port Richey police Detective Michael Anderson said at a news conference on Monday.
On July 31, police stopped Antigua's black Cadillac Escalade, which had tinted windows, a Department of Homeland Security registration sticker and Coast Guard decals. He was cited for driving with a suspended license. During questioning, Antigua showed police a military ID that turned out to be fake.
A subsequent search of two homes uncovered about 200 suspicious items, New Port Richey Police Chief James Steffens told CNN, including "diplomatic license plates and dozens of fake identification cards from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Defense, CIA and NASA," as well as "access badges to hospitals around Florida, doctor and nurse scrubs, a respiratory technician badge, police blue lights and access stickers to Coast Guard bases." Antigua also had at least six Boy Scout uniforms.
"The question remains," WTSP-TV said. "Is Roy Antigua a true threat, a possible danger with the approaching Republican National Convention? Did he have devious plans with all the paraphernalia he possessed? Or was he just living a fantasy?"
"He's definitely strange," Steffens said. "But we need to know if he's truly dangerous."
Steffens said that Antigua, dressed in a Coast Guard uniform, approached him in May during a Memorial Day event. "He blended in and even introduced himself," the Steffens said. "We never knew."
He added: "The best case scenario is he just liked to dress up and wear outfits."
According to Fox's Tampa Bay affiliate, local police are working with the Secret Service to determine where Antigua's CIA badge came from.
Antigua—a native of Cuba—is being held in Pasco County Jail for an unrelated probation violation, giving police time to solve the mystery.
"We just want to know what this individual has been involved in," Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said at the news conference. "Has he been committing crimes? What kind of individual would want to dress up like this? That is why we need the public's help."