[Yu Ominae]

This oughta interest those who enjoy the Bourne series.

LA police hunt man with 'Bourne-like' identity

Fri Apr 30, 12:45 PM

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Los Angeles police are hunting a mystery man who fled as they raided his apartment, leaving behind piles of bogus cash, high-tech counterfeiting equipment and weapons, it was reported Friday.

The Los Angeles Times quoted police officers as saying that the 33-year-old suspect escaped from his high-rise apartment via a back window and via escape in a scene reminiscent of the "Bourne Identity" action films.


"He escaped like Jason Bourne," Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief Mike Downing of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, told the Times.


After being given the slip, detectives discovered stacks of counterfeit 100-dollar bills totaling 15,000 dollars, sophisticated counterfeiting equipment, a camera tripod and a cache of weapons including an AK-47 assault rifle.


Police also discovered multiple identification documents including passports under different aliases which has left them wondering who exactly they are hunting, the Times reported.


The 3,400-dollar-a-month penthouse's balcony was also directly opposite the US Federal Reserve Building in downtown Los Angeles.


"The curiosity in this case is the strategic location in which he chose to operate," Downing said.


The suspect has been named as Brian Alexik, a 33-year-old from New Jersey. A man described as an associate of Alexik was arrested Thursday.


But police admit they do not know what Alexik's intent was.


"There were many levels of criminality," Downing told the Times. "He's funding a criminal enterprise. He's dabbling in narcotics, he's manufacturing weapons parts. But what is it? Was there a bigger plan? What was his intent?


"We have a lot of questions for him when he is arrested."