Posted on Apr 14, 2022
Inside the Navy Yard Suspects' Wild Apartment Building
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In the fall of 2021, a resident of the Navy Yard building Crossing DC attended a party at the apartment of her neighbor, a man named Ari who she knew through friends. “That first time I ever went into his apartment, it was so strange to me,” she recalls, “because he had a huge three-bedroom apartment with no furniture. And I was just like, why would you pay for this as a single guy?” She says Ari claimed that the government was footing the bill, which seemed plausible; most people she knew in their building worked for the government.
Later that night, this resident—who asked to be called Micaela—was sitting on Ari’s couch when her friend ventured into one of the apartment’s back rooms. “My friend comes out wearing, like, I think a gas mask and a bulletproof vest,” she says. He described the room as a “bedroom full of guns and military equipment.” (According to prosecutors, a weapons cache was later found in a search of the apartment.) In retrospect, Micaela sees that “there are things that were weird, like the free three-bedroom apartment and a bedroom full of guns when you live in downtown Washington, DC. But I just thought it was something I didn’t understand because I don’t work in the government.”
Later that night, this resident—who asked to be called Micaela—was sitting on Ari’s couch when her friend ventured into one of the apartment’s back rooms. “My friend comes out wearing, like, I think a gas mask and a bulletproof vest,” she says. He described the room as a “bedroom full of guns and military equipment.” (According to prosecutors, a weapons cache was later found in a search of the apartment.) In retrospect, Micaela sees that “there are things that were weird, like the free three-bedroom apartment and a bedroom full of guns when you live in downtown Washington, DC. But I just thought it was something I didn’t understand because I don’t work in the government.”
Inside the Navy Yard Suspects' Wild Apartment Building
Posted from washingtonian.comPosted in these groups: 
Washington
Washington Navy Yard
Crime
FBI
US Department of Homeland Security
Washington Washington Navy Yard Crime FBI US Department of Homeland Security
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Later that night, this resident—who asked to be called Micaela—was sitting on Ari’s couch when her friend ventured into one of the apartment’s back rooms. “My friend comes out wearing, like, I think a gas mask and a bulletproof vest,” she says. He described the room as a “bedroom full of guns and military equipment.” (According to prosecutors, a weapons cache was later found in a search of the apartment.) In retrospect, Micaela sees that “there are things that were weird, like the free three-bedroom apartment and a bedroom full of guns when you live in downtown Washington, DC. But I just thought it was something I didn’t understand because I don’t work in the government.”
Ari turns out to be Arian Taherzadeh, one of two men arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating federal agents. The other is his associate, Haider Ali, also a resident of Crossing. An FBI affidavit alleges that they’ve been pretending to be Department of Homeland Security officials since February 2020, a ruse that helped them get close to “members of federal law enforcement and the defense community.” (The FBI’s documents shed no light on the suspects’ motives or goals.)
To woo these security-minded professionals, the FBI claims that Taherzadeh and Ali dangled an irresistible DC prize: rent-free luxury apartments at Crossing, a new-construction complex with amenities like a yoga room, infinity pool, cold-water-plunge, and sauna. Per the affidavit, Taherzadeh told one Secret Service agent it was fine to crash there without paying because DHS gives Taherzadeh “extra rooms” as part of his “operations.”...
..."Later that night, this resident—who asked to be called Micaela—was sitting on Ari’s couch when her friend ventured into one of the apartment’s back rooms. “My friend comes out wearing, like, I think a gas mask and a bulletproof vest,” she says. He described the room as a “bedroom full of guns and military equipment.” (According to prosecutors, a weapons cache was later found in a search of the apartment.) In retrospect, Micaela sees that “there are things that were weird, like the free three-bedroom apartment and a bedroom full of guns when you live in downtown Washington, DC. But I just thought it was something I didn’t understand because I don’t work in the government.”
Ari turns out to be Arian Taherzadeh, one of two men arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating federal agents. The other is his associate, Haider Ali, also a resident of Crossing. An FBI affidavit alleges that they’ve been pretending to be Department of Homeland Security officials since February 2020, a ruse that helped them get close to “members of federal law enforcement and the defense community.” (The FBI’s documents shed no light on the suspects’ motives or goals.)
To woo these security-minded professionals, the FBI claims that Taherzadeh and Ali dangled an irresistible DC prize: rent-free luxury apartments at Crossing, a new-construction complex with amenities like a yoga room, infinity pool, cold-water-plunge, and sauna. Per the affidavit, Taherzadeh told one Secret Service agent it was fine to crash there without paying because DHS gives Taherzadeh “extra rooms” as part of his “operations.”...
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