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“I Had Never Seen So Many Weapons”: More Than 1,000 Guns Seized from LA Mansion

The ATF received an anonymous tip.
AP_19129055769281

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Law enforcement seized more than 1,000 guns from a five-bedroom mansion in the heart of an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood on Wednesday.

Aerial photographs of the Holmby Hills property — located down the street from the iconic Playboy Mansion and Jay-Z and Beyonce's $88-million place — show ATF agents and Los Angeles police officers standing over hundreds of firearms piled up on tarps in the driveway.

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Girard Damien Saenz, 57, was arrested on charges of giving, lending, or selling assault weapons in violation of state law, and authorities said that they may pursue additional federal charges against him. He’s being held on a $50,000 bond.

"I had never seen so many weapons in my career of 31 years," LAPD Lt. Chris Ramirez told ABC News. "That's such a big arsenal in a residence like this, in this type of neighborhood. It's astounding.”

The mansion was “cluttered” with guns, Ramirez said, including hundreds of semi-automatic rifles, handguns, and antique Civil War-era guns, as well as stockpiles of ammunition.

Authorities received an anonymous tip about the cache of weapons, specifically that someone was “conducting an illegal firearms transaction outside the scope of the federal firearm license that the individual possesses,” ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun said in a statement.

Colbrun added that authorities have “no reason to believe the public is in any danger.”

Public records indicate that Saenz owns multiple properties in California. He’s listed as the owner of the 8,200-square-foot Holmby Hills mansion, which was also home to Michael Jackson, alongside Cynthia Beck, a real estate mogul and former mistress of billionaire philanthropist Gordon Getty. The two also own other properties together, including in San Francisco. It’s not immediately clear how they are related.

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This photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows gun parts and ammunition, part of a large cache of weapons seized at a home in the affluent Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles Wednesday, May 8, 2019. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)

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This photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows part of a large cache of weapons seized at a home in the affluent Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles Wednesday, May 8, 2019. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)

Cover image: This photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows part of a large cache of weapons seized at a home in the affluent Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles Wednesday, May 8, 2019. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)