LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Police and federal agents, acting on an anonymous tip, seized more than 1,000 guns at a home in the upscale Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles and a man found at the home was jailed this morning.
The investigation was conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Law enforcement officers served a warrant about 4 a.m. Wednesday at the home at 111 N. Beverly Glen Blvd., near Sunset Boulevard.
“Pursuant to an anonymous tip, ATF and LAPD became aware of an individual conducting illegal firearms (transactions) outside the scope of the federal firearm license that the individual (possesses),” according to ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun.
Investigators recovered more than 1,000 guns, as well as manufacturing equipment and tools, Colbrun said, adding that authorities “have no reason to believe the public is in any danger.”
Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that multiple locations, including a home on North Bunker Hill Avenue in the Chinatown section of Los Angeles, were searched Wednesday.
A man, identified as Girard Damien Saenz of Los Angeles, was arrested on suspicion of possessing, selling and manufacturing assault weapons, according to the LAPD.
A large number of the guns, many of them rifles, were piled up in the driveway of the home before being loaded onto a truck. Boxes of ammunition were also seized.
“It's just beyond comprehension that somebody can have so many weapons in a residence like this in a neighborhood such like this,” LAPD Lt. Chris Ramirez told reporters at the scene.
The home is owned by Cynthia Beck, who has three daughters with J. Paul Getty's son, Gordon Getty, the Times reported. Beck purchased the property in January 2001, but it was not clear if she was connected in any way to the arms bust.