STUART (CBS12) — An armed man wearing a bulletproof vest was removed from the crowd at the Stuart Christmas Parade after appearing to tail Congressman Brian Mast.
The congressman’s personnel and Martin County Sheriff’s Office command staff say they were alerted to the man’s “alarming” behavior at the Friday evening parade.
Deputies say the man was wearing a hat pulled over his face and many layers of clothing, despite the warm weather.
After detaining him, authorities say they discovered he was armed and wearing a tactical armored plate bulletproof vest under his clothing.
“They could see some type of apparatus under him, which ended up being a rifle-rated bulletproof vest,” Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said. “And let me put that in context. Our deputies wear soft-body armor; they’re not rifle-rated body armor. This is legit rifle-rated body armor. It’s a higher level than normal body armor with that dagger tucked down in his pants, and he had a handgun on his hip.”
Law enforcement removed the man from the crowded parade and transported him to the Sheriff’s Office, where Martin County sheriff’s detectives, the FBI, and the Stuart Police Department interviewed him, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
No criminal charges were filed; law enforcement officials said they could not charge him despite the suspicious behavior.
Budensiek described the man’s behavior as “off” and said that the man may have been going through a mental health crisis or was under the influence of narcotics.
The sheriff also said the man had been an informant for the Sheriff’s Office narcotics team. The unidentified man told investigators he feared for his life after being an informant, offering the explanation for his tactical gear.
WPEC-CBS12 is a news partner of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
