KEY WEST, Fla. – A Key West man is now the subject of a federal investigation after officers found a pipe bomb and a cache of weapons at his home, authorities said. They said it all started with a traffic stop.
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According to the Key West Police Department, officers pulled over 39-year-old Vincent Vega for driving 69 mph in a 30 mph zone on Friday.
“During the stop, officers observed a loaded, short-barreled AR-15 rifle in plain view inside Vega’s vehicle,” a KWPD news release states. “The rifle, with a 7.5-inch barrel, is classified as a federally regulated firearm requiring proper registration. Vega admitted to modifying the weapon and did not possess the necessary tax stamp for legal ownership.”
Vega, who “exhibited signs of alcohol consumption,” was arrested on charges of possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle and open carrying of a firearm. Police said a family member told them he owned a significant number of guns and authorities obtained a risk protection order against him to keep him from possessing weapons.
Police said a search warrant at his home in the 1500 block of Fourth Street revealed 20 guns, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, a “PVC pipe bomb with a red fuse,” multiple electronic storage devices, Faraday bags and external hard drives, an “Explosive Investigation Guidebook” and “chemical materials and tools consistent with manufacturing explosives.”
Officers called the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad to clear the home and they evacuated the area, police said.
“Further investigation revealed additional items consistent with explosive manufacturing; i.e. including potassium chlorate, aluminum shavings and detailed diagrams of Key West’s pump stations,” the news release states.
On Monday, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “determined that the materials seized could be readily assembled into a destructive device,” meeting “the legal definition of an explosive bomb” under federal law, authorities said.
According to police, the local and federal investigations have remained ongoing as of Wednesday. Vega was being held in MCSO’s Key West jail facility on charges of making or attempting to make a destructive device, possession of a short-barreled rifle or machine gun and openly carrying a weapon.
His bond was set at $1.7 million.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call KWPD at 305-809-1000.