After a six-week manhunt, police arrested the "mysterious ex-con" Brian Alexik, a 34-year-old weirdo with a cache of weapons, counterfeiting equipment and a weird relationship with the CIA. So is this guy the real-life Jason Bourne, or what?

In April, police responded to a call about a gas odor at a luxury apartment in Los Angeles only to find—behind a barricaded door—a weapons cache, counterfeiting machines, binoculars "trained on the U.S. Federal Reserve building next door," and, bizarrely, a mosaic of the CIA seal. The apartment's resident—who, they later discovered, was an ex-con named Brian Alexik—had exited via the fire escape only minutes before.

They found the guy six weeks later, hiding out in his girlfriend's apartment. But that wasn't really the end of the mystery. Apparently, he had been manufacturing rifle parts, and spying on the Federal Reserve. Even weirder:

The CIA mosaic, depicting the white, starred shield with an eagle's head on a blue background, measured about 5 feet across and investigators were impressed with the quality of the tile work. They initially thought Alexik was obsessed with the spy agency.

"But there was no other evidence in there linking the CIA or his infatuation with the CIA," Severino said. "I don't know why he would do that."

Police said Alexik appeared to move comfortably in social circles and most of his friends were in the cosmetics and clothing industries. Investigators found designer clothes and European shoes in his apartment, along with a photo of Alexik mugging next to U2 frontman Bono.

Among other things, it's nice to know that LAPD is hiring people who know good tile work when they see it. What they don't know, however, is exactly what Alexik was up to. He seems to have been counterfeiting money and making fake IDs—but they also arrested a friend, Gregory Koller, who also had assault rifle magazines.

But whatever. The real question, obviously, is: Is this guy the real-life Jason Bourne? Quoth the AP's Thomas Watkins, apparently relying on anonymous sources: "[Alexik's] evasiveness drew comparisons to fictional agent Jason Bourne." The LAPD disagrees: "He's not as smart or resourceful as the Jason Bourne character," says Detective Dan Logan.

So what's the deal? On the one hand: They both escaped from authorities on a fire escape. They both hid out with their girlfriends. On the other hand: Jason Bourne is bad-ass CIA-trained killing machine, and this guy is an ex-con mosaic artist who likes U2. Basically a wash, I think.

[AP]