Staking out a Rockville hotel for possible midafternoon prostitution, several vice detectives spotted what looked to be an unmarked police car parked near the portico. Antennae on the roof. Subtle flasher systems in a window and near a bumper. They ran the license tag.

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       What unfolded over the next two hours, the detectives allege in new court records filed in Montgomery County, was the basis for them charging Joshua Aaron Taber, 38, with something he’s been accused of before: impersonating a police officer.

       Taber also faces 12 weapons charges based on what detectives say was found in his Chevrolet Tahoe and his hotel room. The cache included rifles with scopes, an Anderson Arms AR-15 pistol and at least six magazines of ammunition, according to court records. Also found: Several identification cards bearing Taber’s name, photo and titles such as “Diplomatic Protection Services” and “Special Agent.”

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       Court documents do not explain why Taber, of Alexandria, Va., had the weapons or the IDs. There also is no accusation or indication that he was connected to any prostitution. Rather, the records suggest the detectives ran into him by chance.

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       Taber was booked into the Montgomery County Detention Center Thursday, posted a $5,000 bond and was released, according to court records. He could not be reached for comment through phone numbers and email addresses that in the past were linked to him on public databases. Court records do not indicate if Taber has retained an attorney in the case.

       In 2014, Taber was found guilty of law enforcement impersonation in Fauquier County, Va., according to online court records. He was later charged in the same offense in D.C. and ended up pleading guilty to attempting to carry a pistol without a license, according to court records.

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       The Montgomery County case unfolded about 1:45 p.m. on May 10, outside a business hotel along Shady Grove Road. When the Montgomery County plainclothes detectives first spotted the unoccupied Tahoe, they wondered if they’d come across a different law-enforcement operation and if their presence might get in the way of it. One of the detectives walked by the SUV, looked inside and saw what appeared to be a soft rifle case on the back-seat.

       A colleague inquired at the front desk and was told a man named Joshua Taber had just checked into Room 222, referred to himself as an agent and said he needed his “government-issued vehicle” close so he could keep an eye on it, according to court records.

       The detectives continued researching Taber’s background and criminal history and waited for him to come out of the hotel. When he did, at about 3:55 p.m., they arrested him.

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       A subsequent search of Room 222 turned what detectives termed a “9 mm assault pistol,” another gun and photo IDs that included one with a holographic “security seal,” detectives asserted in court records. Inside the Tahoe, investigators found 10 guns in cases on the back seat. One of them, detectives allege, was a privately manufactured “Ghost Gun.”

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       Owing to his convictions, police say, Taber was prohibited from possessing any of the guns.

       In a cargo area of the Tahoe, police also said they found “a camouflage molle vest bearing a black and green patch which said, ‘AGENT EXECUTIVE PROTECTION’ with 2x bulletproof plates.”