Reserve Lofts Counterfeiting Suspect Nabbed

LAPD

Brian Alexik

​Brian Alexik, the suspected counterfeiter who left a trail of intriguing clues in his Reserve Lofts apartment in April, has been arrested, the Downtown News reports.

Alexik surrendered to officers who knocked on an apartment door in the downtown Arts District at about 1:40 p.m. LAPD officers had set up a block-wide perimeter around the apartment building, in case he tried to make another Jason Bourne-like escape.

Police were first called to Alexik's apartment on April 19, because neighbors smelled gasoline. When the officers knocked on the door, Alexik allegedly ran down the fire escape.

Inside, police found $15,000 in counterfeit bills, an AK-47, fake IDs, and crystal meth. The gasoline apparently was used to power a generator. On the floor, there was a tile mosaic of the CIA logo.

A profile in the Downtown News makes Alexik sound like every landlord's worst nightmare. He was a convicted drug dealer who partied with Bono and Janice Dickinson and wrote to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to contest a traffic ticket.

David Bramante, the manager of the CityView Lofts, told the paper that Alexik trashed his $4,000/mo. penthouse, leaving behind a bunch of homemade tiling and anti-government paraphernalia.

"I think he was just too smart for his own good and had too much time and spiraled downward," Bramante told the Downtown News.