A man with Colorado connections is facing federal charges after his arrest near Los Angeles International Airport – and a search of a hotel room where he had stayed in Denver yielded several pipe bombs, 9Wants to Know has learned.
Adam Nauveed Hayat, 37, has no local arrest record, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. He was being held in California and is set to appear in federal court Friday.
Sources tell 9NEWS that, during a search of a room Hayat is believed to have stayed in at the downtown Sheraton, investigators found a note on a mirror indicating that explosives were stashed in the safe. The note included the code to open it.
Investigators ultimately found roughly six pipe bombs, 9Wants to Know has learned.
Hayat could face a federal charge of possession of an unregistered explosive device.
Hayat had been staying at the Sheraton, located at 1550 Court Place in downtown Denver, according to sources. After he failed to pay his bill, 9Wants to Know has learned that hotel staff went to his room to check on him.
They entered the room and were concerned enough about what they saw to call Denver police early Thursday morning.
The case ultimately was turned over to the FBI.
9Wants to Know has learned that FBI agents obtained a federal warrant to track Hayat’s phone, which led them to Los Angeles.
He was arrested Thursday at the Holiday Inn LAX. Investigators found no similar materials there, 9NEWS has learned.
He flew into Los Angeles on Wednesday, sources said.
Hayat is an American citizen and a former U.S. Marine, 9Wants to Know has learned.
In an e-mail, the Marines have confirmed Hayat served as a machine gunner and military policeman between June of 1999 and July of 2003. When he left the Marines, he had a rank of a sergeant.
According to the Marines, Hayat was deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom January 5 through October 17, 2004.
He enlisted in St. Louis and has a number of awards. .
Marines would not release the circumstances or details of his discharge.
Sources confirmed that Hayat is the same person who appeared in a 2011 story in St. Louis’ Riverfront Times about the “occupy” movement. At that point, Hayat said he was living in the St. Louis area and described himself as an “unemployed Iraq War vet.”
“I lost my job waiting tables two years ago after a series of breakdowns,” the Riverfront Times quoted him as saying. “I want the president to look into the backlog of disability claims at the veterans administration. I’m here on behalf of all veterans who deal with Gulf War Syndrome.”
Contact 9NEWS reporter Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
