I did a double take on reading this — was it from the Onion? Nope, it’s a genuine CTV news story about a bizarre incident in which a man reportedly “infatuated” with Vice President Joe Biden breached Olympic Games security.

A mentally ill man with a homemade security pass was able to get within metres of U.S. Vice President during a security breach at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, CTV News has learned.

As dozens of police held back thousands of protestors outside of BC Place in Vancouver, a 48-year-old British Columbia man slipped past several layers of security inside the venue, said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Bud Mercer, the head of the 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU).

Mercer said the man’s target was clear. “He had an infatuation with the US Vice President.”

Biden was seated in a section reserved for dignitaries. Twelve steps away from the VP and out of view of the cameras, the man started making his way down the stairs after the national anthem ended.

That’s when two female plainclothes Mounties charged with protecting Biden acted, Mercer said. “They described him to me as simply not fitting in,” he said. “They approached him, determined that the accreditation he was carrying was forged or fake, confronted him and escorted him out one or two steps at which point he attempted to run and was taken into custody.”

Mercer, who heads up the unit tasked with securing the Games, says members of his team were also providing security for the Vice President while he was in Vancouver taking in Olympic events.

Mercer says the man was not carrying a weapon and did not intend to harm Biden.