Los Angeles police and agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) seized over 1,000 guns from a Los Angeles home in an upscale neighborhood on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Police Department and ATF stated that they received an anonymous tip about a person “conducting illegal firearms transactions outside the scope of the federal firearm license” that the person held. Following the tip, the authorities executed a search warrant in the early morning hours at the home near the upscale Bel Air and Holmby Hills neighborhoods.
Girard Saenz, 57, a licensed building contractor, was arrested at the house on the alleged violation of California laws against the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and .50 Browning Machine Gun rifles, according to Los Angeles police Lt. Chris Ramirez. Saenz was released on Thursday after paying a $50,000 bond.
Authorities told CNN that the home looked like "a hoarder's house" with guns piled up in several rooms. Thirty officers spent more than 15 hours to remove all the weapons.
“I had never seen so many weapons in my career of 31 years,” Lt. Ramirez said. “That’s such a big arsenal in a residence like this, in this type of neighborhood. It’s astounding.”
Authorities say that there no evidence that the guns were used to commit crimes. "At this time, there is no indication they were, but that could change as the investigation continues," a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Ginger Colbrun, said on Thursday.
The home is the property of real estate mogul Cynthia Beck, who is Saenz's companion. It is unknown if she resides at the home where the guns were found and/or if she's connected to the gun cache.