NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A former employer of accused mail bomber Cesar Sayoc believes he was also a target 10 years ago, after he fired the suspect from his North Miami Beach strip club.
Before his arrest in Plantation on Oct. 26, Sayoc worked in the adult entertainment industry, including Dean’s Gold along Northeast 163rd Street and off Biscayne Boulevard.
The club’s owner, Dean Tyler, said he found what appeared to be a bomb under a couch at the business soon after he fired Sayoc.
“He realized he wasn’t getting his job back, came by, and knew where to go and where to put it,” Tyler said during a phone interview. “I mean, that’s my thinking. I can’t be 100 percent.”
Photos released by the FBI show pipe bombs that, investigators said, Sayoc sent to various high-profile Democratic officials and supporters.
Just got these photos of a bomb that was found in 2009 at a strip club where suspected mail bomber Cesar Sayoc worked. The club owner tells me the bomb was found under a couch at the North Miami Beach club after Sayoc was fired. FBI is investigating possible connection. @wsvn pic.twitter.com/it5C1jp13w
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) November 2, 2018
Recently released photos show the explosive that, Tyler said, he found under the couch at his club in January of 2009, a few months after Sayoc had been terminated.
Tyler said the bomb squad had to shut down the area surrounding the club.
They detonated the bomb, and we never heard another thing about it,” he said. “There should be reports about what was in the bomb or what chemicals he used, and they should be able to compare that to what he did now.”
7News has learned the FBI is investigating whether or not Sayoc was involved in the strip club scare.
Back in 2002, he made an unrelated bomb threat when, according to a document, he “threatened to blow up FPL and that ‘it would be worse than September 11th.'”
In September of this year, a Boca Raton Police officer spoke with Sayoc after the department received a call about a man sleeping in a van in the parking lot of a health club.
Body camera footage captured the exchange.
Officer: “You all right, buddy?”
Cesar Sayoc: “Yes, sir.”
Officer: “Listen, someone had called and was concerned about you.”
Cesar Sayoc: “I’m going to work out now.”
Officer: “OK.”
Cesar Sayoc: “Yeah, I just got done, and it was a long night.”
Friday morning, the accused bomber made his second and likely final federal court appearance in Miami. The case is being transferred to the Southern District of New York.
Sayoc’s attorneys said the government’s case lacks evidence.
“No government document or allegation at this point has confirmed there is DNA. Possible. Well, that’s a word that doesn’t make it in a court of law,” said attorney James Benjamin. “They have to come up with evidence, and they talk about possible evidence without confirmation.”
7News is not aware of any official evidence that connects Sayoc to the bomb found at Dean’s Gold, but Tyler said it can’t just be a strange coincidence.
The strip club owner’s attorney has been in touch with the FBI.
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