Federal Officials Put Hold On Man Accused Of Driving Car Outfitted With Law Enforcement Equipment

A decision made by federal officials will keep a Czech Republic man who was driving a vehicle eerily similar to police car in jail because of his immigration status.

Milan Krivsky, 32, was arrested Saturday. A state trooper said he pulled over Krivsky on Interstate 85 in Belmont for speeding and became suspicious when he saw his international license and equipment in the man’s vehicle.

The trooper asked for permission to search the Jeep Cherokee and found digital cameras mounted on the dash along with a blue light, a siren, a radar gun and an official-looking Department of Homeland Security sticker. Investigators said he also had a laptop computer with pornographic images on it and a duffle bag containing his visa, duct tape, box cutters and gloves. They seized a number of other items – some of which they would not comment on.

Krivsky is charged with operating a vehicle that resembles a law enforcement vehicle and for possession of an operable open blue light – misdemeanor charges he plans to handle himself.

“You are going to represent yourself or hire your own attorney, is that correct?” Judge Jim Jackson asked Monday.

“Yes. Hire my own attorney,” he said.

Krivsky was initially being held on $1,000 bond at the Gaston County jail, but the judge raised that bond to $5,000. Federal officials, however, put a hold on him early Monday – meaning even if he makes bond he will still have to stay in jail until he talks to federal officials.

They said although he is in the country legally, they want to know why he’s in the United States and why he had the items.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are all investigating.

Krivsky told authorities he makes a living by selling merchandise on eBay and troopers said he has thousands of dollars in banks across the United States. He also told authorities that he grew up in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and was a police officer there.

The suspect had been staying in a hotel in Hickory and had applied to live in a Hickory apartment complex.

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