Ex-Key West firefighter had weapons cache, pipe bomb, explosives and building sketch, cops say

David Goodhue, Miami Herald on Mar 19, 2025

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MIAMI — A traffic stop last week in Key West led to officers and federal agents discovering a cache of weapons, a pipe bomb and explosives-making materials inside a former city firefighter’s apartment, according to police.

Along with the arsenal of weaponry, police also found a sketch of an unidentified building that included a possible sniper location and notes about using mortar-like devices to “propel metal objects at high speed,” a source told the Miami Herald.

Vincent Vega, 39, was pulled over last Friday after driving nearly 70 mph in a 30-mph zone in Key West, according to police. Officer noticed an AR-15-type of rifle with a shortened, 7.5-inch barrel “in plain view” inside the car, according to the March 18 arrest warrant obtained by the Herald.

Since the rifle had a barrel shorter than 16 inches, it is subject to the National Firearms Act requiring a special tax stamp for ownership, according to the warrant. Police say Vega admitted to illegally modifying the weapon.

Police say Vega also “exhibited signs of alcohol consumption” when they pulled him over, the warrant states. Officers arrested him on charges of possession of an unregistered, short-barreled rifle and open carrying of a firearm.

10,000 rounds of ammo

Later that day, police obtained a search warrant for Vega’s apartment at 1543 Fourth St. in Key West. Inside his small bedroom, officers found 20 firearms of various calibers, along with about 10,000 rounds of ammunition — also of various calibers — as well as 2 pounds of gunpowder and a polyvinyl chloride pipe bomb with a red-colored fuse, according to the warrant.

When cops — including Sgt. Thomas Hill of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad — found other materials they determined could be used to make bombs, including potassium chlorate, which is described in the warrant as a potent oxidizer that can be used in explosives and fireworks, police evacuated everyone within a 300-feet radius of the apartment, said Alyson Crean, the Police Department’s spokeswoman.

As officers continued their search, they found digital scales, magnifying glasses, aluminum shavings that are used to intensify the burning of explosives and large trays of pennies, nickels and quarters, according to the warrant. There was also an “Explosives Investigations Guidebook” and a diagram of all the pump stations in Key West, the warrant states.

Investigators also discovered a bag designed to block electromagnetic signals and prevent remote access to electronic devices. The bag had five cellphones inside, the warrant states.

Police questioned Vega at the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island, where he told them the material found in his apartment was for making fireworks.

“However, based of Sgt. Hill’s expertise and training, the possession of the items found were more consistent with the manufacturing of explosive devices rather than fireworks,” Key West Detective Kenneth Waite wrote.

Worked at Key West Fire Department

Crean said Vega was a member of the Key West Fire Department from 2014 to 2023. Information about why he left the department was not immediately available, Crean said.

On Monday, agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives came to Key West to look at the evidence collected from Vega’s apartment. They determined the items and parts “could be readily assembled into a destructive device and would be properly identified as an ‘Explosive Bomb’ under federal law,” Waite wrote in the warrant.

As of Wednesday, Vega was being held in county jail on a bond of $1.7 million on charges of possession of a destructive device, illegal possession of a short-barreled rifle and open carrying of a firearm.

The case is under investigation by Key West police and the ATF, Crean said. Detectives ask anyone with more information on the case to call (305) 809-1000.

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