TYLER - Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith says it's the biggest identity theft bust he's seen in his 32 years as sheriff.

Smith County Sheriff's Deputies checked on a man sleeping in his car at Lindsey Park in Tyler Tuesday morning. When the man woke up, Sheriff Smith said he tried to drive off, but his car stalled. Smith says the man was arrested after he started a fight with deputies.

Deputies arrested 27-year-old Lucas George Cates of Lindale. Inside his car, they found nearly 500 stolen credit card numbers, fake checks and supplies to make more. They also found stolen identification, including driver's licenses, birth certificates and student ID's, from 200 people in Texas.

Referring to the stolen credit cards, Sheriff Smith said, "This is a national issue. What we have is the physical evidence, and now it's a matter of running down the rabbit trail nationwide."

Smith added, "Those officers are lucky they didn't get hurt seriously. Next to him [Cates] was a sawed-off shotgun."

Sheriff Smith said among the 500 stolen credit card numbers, 150 were from people that stayed at the Wingate Hotel in Las Colinas, a suburb of Irving.

Deputies also found Cates' car rigged with red and blue patrol lights, with law enforcement equipment inside. Smith said that leads him to believe Cates had impersonated a peace officer at some point.