Man who was arrested after landing helicopter dressed as Army gen. was trying to impress a woman

The eccentric man who impersonated a three-star US Army general last year -and landed a helicopter at the headquarters of a data analysis company in North Carolina- was reportedly attempting to impress a woman who worked at the facility.

57-year-old Christian Desgroux, who was given the authorization to land a chartered helicopter last November under the guise of an Army Lieutenant General, reportedly exited the helicopter at the Cary-based SAS Institute headquarters wearing military fatigues and telling security officers that he was there to pick up a female employee for a classified briefing at Fort Bragg.

“He saluted the security officers, and they actually saluted him back,” said Homeland Security Special Agent Tony Bell, a federal agent involved in the trial.

The married woman, a long time acquaintance of Desgroux, expected the Chilean-born American to pick her up in a car.

“She had no idea that he was flying a helicopter to pick her up,” Bell told a judge.”She didn’t know what to make of it. She just went along with it.”

SAS security quickly notified local police, who notified federal agencies of the incident.

Desgroux was referred to by Bell as “mentally ill” and has a rap sheet littered with cases of disrupting 911 communications, a misdemeanor assault on his stepdaughter and stalking his wife, despite a protective order.

With such charges in recent memory, Federal Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers suggested that Desgroux’s detention continue.

“The defendant has engaged in substantial dishonesty,” Numbers said.

According to The Associated Press, Desgroux is a car mechanic and seemed rather comfortable during his hearing on Monday.

The Judge seemed puzzled by the bizarre nature of the case, noting that “This case is unlike others that we see here.”

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