Man dressed in tactical gear arrested heading to Baptist church to ‘fulfill a prophecy’
A Texas man wearing tactical gear and armed with a loaded weapon was arrested on Sunday after causing alarm when he insisted on finding a Baptist church so he could to fulfill “a prophecy,” ABC News reports.
Police arrested Tony Albert, 33, after a woman called authorities to report a man in Seguin, Texas, “oddly dressed” and outfitted in a surgical face mask and tactical-style clothing, according to the town’s police department.
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“An SPD officer, who was off-duty at the time, was the first on the scene and observed an oddly dressed male wearing tactical style clothing, a surgical face shield, carrying a loaded firearm and extra ammunition,” department spokesperson Tanya Brown said in a statement Sunday.
“During the investigation, officers revealed that 33 year old Tony Albert was allegedly en-route to unidentified church to fulfill what he called a prophecy.”
Albert was arrested and charged with marijuana possession and for felony possession of a firearm for being a convicted felon, according to court documents.
Brianna Jimenez, a waitress at Las Mañanitas Mexican restaurant is Seguin, said red flags were raised on Sunday when Albert insisted on finding a nearby Baptist church and asked for a ride.
“He was looking at me and he was saying something about, ‘Do you know where the nearest church is at?’” Jimenez told San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT. “And he said Baptist church.”
Jimenez pointed him in the direction of the Door Christian Fellowship Church, situated next to the restaurant but Albert said, “I’ve been to that church many years ago. … Do you know where the other Baptist church is at?’”
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Jimenez said once he got up she realized that he was packing a weapon.
“When he slowly walks away, that’s when I finally see he has a weapon, and he’s gripping it, like, he has his finger on the trigger,” Jimenez told KSAT.
Once Albert left, headed to a church they gave him directions to, Jimenez said they locked down the restaurant and called the police to report the suspicious customer.
“Now that I think about it, he could’ve taken a trip to any church and — a lot of people [could’ve left] in body bags,” Jimenez said. “That kind of hurts me, like, what if? You know what I mean? What if that really happened?”
The Seguin Police Department said they were “extremely grateful to the citizen who called police.”
“If this subject was not stopped and apprehended the results could have ended differently,” Tanya Brown, the department’s spokesperson, said.
According to court records, Albert is being on $100,000 bail at the Guadalupe County Jail.
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