The LAPD and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives served a search warrant at a Bel-Air mansion Wednesday and found an arsenal of weapons belonging to a man named Gerry Seanz. But the home actually belongs to Cynthia Beck, famously the former mistress of SF's own Gordon Getty, with whom she has three children.
Many of the weapons in the cache were fully automatic, authorities say, and the warrant came about because of a tip that alleged that someone at the home was actually manufacturing weapons for sale.
As the LA Times reports, the home is a "hoarder's paradise," according to accounts from officers at the scene, with guns strewn across several rooms. Here's an aerial shot from the from Associated Press showing the huge number of weapons piled in the driveway outside after the raid. Among the array are rifles, shotguns, assault weapons, and pistols, and it reportedly took 30 law enforcement officers over 12 hours to collect them all.
Says LAPD spokesman Lt. Chris Ramirez, "This is a big stash. It’s beyond comprehension that somebody can have so many weapons in a residence like this, in a neighborhood like this."
The LAPD says this is one of the largest stashes of weapons it's ever recovered.
Over 1,000 firearms & one person arrested for 30600(a) PC, in one of the largest recoveries in LAPD history. How did this happen?
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) May 9, 2019
The LAPD & ATF received info that a person was selling & manufacturing illegal firearms, which led to a search warrant in a Holmby Hills residence. pic.twitter.com/9kWq4vuFnb
Girard Saenz was arrested early Wednesday morning on suspicion of violating California’s assault weapons law, and he was released on a $50,000 bond early Thursday.
Per the LAT, public records show that Beck purchased the home in 2001, though its not clear whether she still lives at the home. Saenz is reportedly a "longtime companion" of Beck's.
Interestingly, Saenz was arrested in 2017 on suspicion of brandishing a weapon at a Malibu home, but no charges were ever pressed and he was immediately released.
It's unclear if Saenz was a licensed firearms dealer, but it seems likely, according to the LAPD's statements, that Saenz wasn't permitted to sell some of those weapons, if any.
What should make you most uneasy is the idea that a licensed firearms dealer keeping 1,000 weapons at their home like this actually is not uncommon, as one expert tells the LAT.