LATEST UPDATES:
- Cesar Sayoc has been charged with 5 federal crimes and faces up to 48 years in prison
- 13 IEDs discovered so far; more packages could still be in transit
- FBI Director Christopher Wray said ‘these are not hoax devices’
- The suspect’s fingerprint was found on at least one of the packages
- Sacramento authorities are investigating a suspicious package addressed to California Sen. Kamala Harri
Cesar Sayoc, the man arrested in connection with the sending of at least a dozen parcel bombs to high-profile Democrats and critics of U.S. President Donald Trump, is a 56-year-old registered Republican with a criminal history in Florida.
Sayoc was born in 1962. The Orlando Sentinel reported that he was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He is a resident of Aventura, Fla., NY1 reported.
The Aventura address on record for Sayoc is not primary residence, and is believed to belong to his mother, the Aventura police department said in a press conference. Furthermore, the only interaction Sayoc has had with Aventura police to date has been in regards to minor traffic stops and violations, officials said.
However, court records revealed a history of arrests in Florida on various offences, the majority of which are theft-related.
In 2002, he was charged with threatening to bomb a power utility for trying to shut off his lights, telling a company representative it would be “worse than September 11th,” according to a Miami police report. Over the years, he was arrested for domestic violence, theft and fraud.
WATCH: Cesar Sayoc appears in handcuffs as FBI agents transport bomb suspect to new location
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that investigators tracked Sayoc to the city of Plantation in Broward County, Fla. He was arrested there at an AutoZone auto parts store, where two witnesses told Reuters they heard a loud blast at the time of the arrest.
READ MORE: Cesar Sayoc arrested in U.S. pipe bomb investigation
Get breaking National news
Local television stations showed investigators using a large blue tarp to cover Sayoc’s white van, which was plastered with decals and stickers, before removing it on a truck.
The van had numerous stickers showing President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, as well as a “CNN SUCKS” sign, according to a screenshot posted on Twitter by a CNN reporter.
Sayoc is a promoter, booking agent and “live entertainment owner,” according to his LinkedIn profile, which listed him as the owner of International Gold Productions. In addition, reports indicate that Sayoc has also worked as a male stripper, an aspiring professional wrestler and a store manager.
WATCH: Cesar Sayoc, pipe bomb suspect, charged with 5 federal crimes: DOJ
He filed for bankruptcy in Miami in 2012, according to court records. At the time, Sayoc said he lived with his mother in Aventura, Florida, and listed a $1,150 tax refund and a 2001 Chevy Tahoe vehicle as his only assets.
WATCH: Two new suspicious packages discovered in Florida and New York
NBC reported that DNA evidence played a role in his arrest.
The development came amid a coast-to-coast manhunt for the person responsible for a series of explosive devices addressed to Democrats including former President Barack Obama, former Vice-President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Law enforcement officials said they had intercepted a dozen packages in states across the country.
No one had claimed responsibility for the parcel bombs, which were denounced by authorities as terrorism, and came less than two weeks ahead of U.S. congressional elections that could alter the balance of power in Washington.
WATCH: Trump says he heard bomb suspect was supporter of his
Trump commented on Sayoc’s arrest Friday, saying that he had heard Sayoc was one of his supporters.
Trump also said he will not contact former President Barack Obama or the other people targeted by the bomber.
— With files from Reuters and the Canadian Press
Comments