Police stumble upon mighty weapons cache

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Santa Barbara Police seized a hefty arsenal of 134 guns, 800 pounds of ammunition and 13 swords from a home in the 1300 block of Salsipuedes St. Thursday. Nearby residents called police fearing the man living there, who has Parkinson’s Disease, could hurt himself.
Police Det. Jaycee Hunter said 22 of the weapons were illegal, but had likely been purchased by the man prior to the year 2000, when many of the guns were still legal. As a result, he doubts criminal charges will be filed.


But that didn’t diminish the shock value for police when they discovered the magnitude of the weapons stockpile in the home. Hunter said he arrived at the residence just after 6 p.m. with a few other officers, but quickly discovered he’d need more help.
“We don’t come across that very often,” said Hunter, who has been a police officer for 22 years. “It started out with six of us, we kept finding caches of guns and ended up with 12 officers there.”
Hunter said the weapons collection was extensive in both diversity and size. He said the man had several AK-47 assault rifles with bayonets attached to the barrels. The man had removed the drawers from the dresser in his bedroom, stacked them on the floor, and placed weapons in their place.
Hunter said the man’s closet was stacked with rifles, and several .357 Magnum handguns were found loaded beneath the man’s mattress and in his nightstand.
“It looked like he focused on them for more of a home protection thing,” Hunter said.
In the garage, police found several cabinets, not safes, full of rifles. The bulk of the ammunition was also found on pallets in the garage. Hunter said some of the ammunition consisted of loose gunpowder, which had to be removed and stored by the fire department in a special bunker.
Other weapons discovered included old-western style revolvers and several shotguns. Hunter said one of the shotguns was especially illegal, since it was semiautomatic and equipped with a drum magazine, which is cylindrical and holds 50 rounds of shot.
Some of the weapons were so rare and complex, Hunter said the police department’s weapons expert was called in after the reporting officers couldn’t figure out how to disassemble the guns.
While many of the weapons were old, some of them were brand new and found in original packaging. Hunter said a number of these unopened guns were found in the kitchen.
Though Hunter said he appreciated residents taking initiative and notifying authorities, he said it likely should have happened long before it got to this point. He said the 65-year-old man was cooperative with police, but couldn’t recall much more than his name. He said County Mental Health officials removed the man, who is currently being evaluated, from his home.
Hunter said the only weapons that won’t be returned to the man, or whoever takes over possession of his home, are the 22 that are considered illegal in California.
“It doesn’t look like he had any lascivious intent,” he said. “He was kind of a gun fanatic gone obsessive. He would legally purchase weapons and then keep them in the house. He had been collecting them for a long time.”
Aside from the risk the weapons and gunpowder posed to the man and nearby residents, Hunter said an even riskier scenario would entail the weapons getting into the wrong hands.
“It was a burglar’s dream and a cop’s nightmare,” Hunter said.