A man allegedly tried to impress a woman by chartering a helicopter to convince her he’s in the army. It ended in court

A mechanic allegedly claimed to be a three-star general on a top secret mission from President Trump to escort a woman from the grounds of her data analytics firm to a classified briefing at a nearby military base.

Authorities said on Monday that Christian Degroux, 57, was not on a secret mission authorised by Trump when he arrived in an army flight uniform on a chartered helicopter at the SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina.

Department of Homeland Security special agent Tony Bell testified at a detention hearing Monday that Desgroux falsely claimed to be a senior Army officer.

The Washington Post reports Bell said he believed the suspect was attempting to romance the unnamed woman.

Christian Degroux (Picture: Wake City-County Bureau of Identification/AP)

Defence attorney Andrew McCoppin said Desgroux intended to plead not guilty when arraigned, adding:

It appears that a number of things have snowballed to where we are today.

After landing in a company soccer field in the chartered helicopter early evening, Desgroux alleged disembarked to find the woman, and spoke to SAS security officials who asked him why he was there. Authorities say he then saluted the security officers, and they saluted him back.

The woman then boarded the aircraft, which (because Desgroux wasn't certain of a destination), circling Raleigh for about half an hour.

A judge ordered Desgroux to be confined pending his arraignment.

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