He’s been arrested at least 10 times.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Sayoc’s first arrest came in 1991, when he was arrested by the Broward Sheriff’s Office and charged with grand theft, a third-degree felony.
His later arrests included several other theft-related charges, but also a 2002 charge for making a bomb threat.
According to an arrest report
from the Miami Police Department, Sayoc called a representative from Florida Power and Light and “threatened to blow up FPL and that ‘it would be worse than September 11.’”
His most recent arrest, according to FDLE, came in August 2015, when he was charged for a probation violation.
His social media may be as conspiracyminded and pro-Trump as his van.
A Twitter account believed to be his promotes the false claim that survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting were actors, and wishes for the deaths of George Clooney and Andrea Mitchell. It also features videos of the account holder, who looks very similar to Sayoc, delivering Papa John’s pizzas to a WalMart. The van impounded at the site of Sayoc’s arrest in Plantation was littered with pro-Trump stickers and pictures of prominent Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren with cross-hairs over their faces. His Facebook page, though now switched to private, previously showed him attending President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
But not all his social media.
On his LinkedIn page, Sayoc describes himself as a promoter, booking agent and choreographer whose clients included burlesque shows and Chippendales dancers. Although his Twitter account appears to show him delivering pizza, the promotions side hustle is not his only one.
He’s a business owner.
According to state corporate filings, Sayoc has two registered businesses that are active with the state, including Native American Catering and Vending and Ver Tech AG. It’s unclear whether those are just businesses in name only or going concerns. The addresses listed for both businesses are for a post office in Hallandale Beach. Calls to a partner listed for one of the businesses were not returned.
He is a Republican.
According to state voter registration records, Sayoc is a registered Republican who voted early in every election since at least 2016 and has been a Republican in each. Felons are banned from voting for life in Florida, unless their civil rights are restored by the state, but adjudication was withheld on Sayoc’s felony charges. “The Department has received no records to indicate this individual is ineligible to vote in Florida,” said Florida Department of State spokeswoman Sarah Revell.
He is a Seminole — or is he?
Across his social media accounts, Sayoc proudly boasts of the “unconquered Seminole tribe” and how much the tribe supports President Trump. However, according to tribal spokesman Gary Bitner: “We can find no evidence that Cesar Altieri, Caesar Altieri, Caesar Altieri Sayoc, Ceasar Altieri Randazzo (Facebook) or Julus Cesar Milan (Twitter) is or was a member or employee of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, or is or was an employee of Seminole Gaming or Hard Rock International.”
However, a 2013 arrest report filed by the Coral Springs Police Department for shoplifting from a J.C. Penney lists Sayoc’s employer as “Hard Rock.”
He appeared to be “respectful” and didn’t have “a political bone in his body.”
Daniel Aaronson, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represented Sayoc in a 2014 misdemeanor case in which he was accused of stealing “various copper piping items” in Hollywood, said he was stunned to hear that Sayoc is considered a suspect in the case.
“I am floored,” Aaronson said. “There are 330 million people in the U.S., I would have put him in the bottom two to three million of people I would suspect of doing this.”
“He was the most respectful client that I think I’ve ever had. I didn’t think he had a political bone in his body. I cannot believe that this would be the case that he would have done anything like this.”
He might be a youth soccer coach.
Among the many pro-Trump stickers on his white van was one bearing the phrase “Top Youth Soccer Recruits for Trump.” The email associated with his voter registration also relates to youth soccer recruiting.