Agents Seize More Than 1,000 Guns From Home in Upscale LA Neighborhood, Holmby Hills

Police tape in a stock photo. Carl Ballou/Shutterstock

More than 1,000 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found early on May 8 at a home in one of the most exclusive upscale neighborhoods of Los Angeles, Holmby Hills.

Dramatic aerial footage shows a massive collection of weapons scattered out on what appears to be blankets in the property’s driveway, as police take inventory.

One man, whose name has yet to be released, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful transportation, and of giving, lending, or selling an assault weapon, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said, according to the Los Angeles Times. He is expected to be booked, authorities said.

The raid occurred around 4 a.m in the 100 block of North Beverly Glen Boulevard.

Police also found firearm manufacturing equipment and tools at the home. According to KABC, the home has multiple rooms and was cluttered with guns and ammunition. The weapons were described as a wide range of makes and models of different ages, including assault weapons, rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Many were modern, but some were also dated 50 years or more, with a few being fit as collectables as they were dated back to the Civil War, KABC reported.

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

He told the station that it is not illegal for someone to own a large collection of firearms but it is illegal to sell such weapons from a home, and without going through the extensively-regulated state and federal processes.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and LAPD were serving a search warrant. In a written statement to CNN, ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun said that police had received a tip that someone was “conducting illegal firearms transaction outside the scope of the federal firearm license that the individual possess.”

The Daily Mail reported that public property records show the home has five bedrooms and 8,200 square feet of living space. It was last sold in 2001 and its current estimated value is about $7 million.

The LA Times reported that court records show the property is owned by Cynthia Beck, who has three daughters with the son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, Gordon Getty. Beck bought the property in January 2001, but it remains unclear if she has any connection to the firearms find, and the paper could not reach Beck for comment.

Officers from both agencies remained on the scene and continued the investigation. They were going through and disposing of boxes and taking photographs of the evidence, the LA Times reported.

”Obviously it’s a lot,” Officer Mike Lopez, a spokesman with the Los Angeles Police Department, told the LA Times. “They’re going to be there a long time. Possibly even tomorrow.”

In a statement sighted by the Times, the ATF said, “ATF and LAPD have no reason to believe the public is in any danger.”

In 2015, LAPD seized 1,200 guns, seven tons of ammunition and $230,000 in cash from a home. The owner had died of natural causes and was found in his SUV outside. At the time, it was considered one of the largest weapon’s seizure from one home, the LAPD said.

Cable News Network contributed to this report