Fire Leads Authorties To Massive Weapons Cache

[warpedskydiver 0]

Mar 2, 2007 5:48 am US/Pacific

Fire Leads Authorties To Massive Weapons Cache
(CBS) NORCO, Calif. An attic fire in a Norco home led to the discovery of a large weapons cache, including about 100 guns, at least one million rounds of ammunition and an underground tunnel, authorities said.

The man who resided in the house in the 1800 block of Pali Drive struggled with authorities about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and was taken into custody and placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Investigator Jerry Franchville.

The resident, who lived alone, was reluctant to leave the burning home and fought with sheriff's deputies when they arrived, Franchville said.

"He was physically detained," he said.

Once the fire was extinguished, authorities noticed the weapons and ammo, stored mostly in the garage, Franchville said. Firefighters also found a tunnel leading under the house, Norco Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Knueven said.

"We haven't gone down into it," he said. "What we've been told so far is that it goes under the house. According to a family member, it goes under the garage, then makes a 90-degree turn to the right and goes under the rest of the house."

The suspect's name was being withheld, Franchville said, because of limitations placed on the release of information about people under medical care in 2003 by the national Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The cache of ammo was believed to be largest ever seized in the county, he said. It was unclear if any of the weapons were illegal to own, Franchville said.

Several other homes in the area were evacuated "to make sure that we don't have anything that could be ... a dangerous airborne or maybe explosive," he said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Gee maybe this guy was trying to make sure no firefighters were hurt?

Now the cops have him held in a mental ward on POLICE HOLD.

He owned the ammo legally, the firearms are not illegal or are not kown to be.

So ask yourselves why is he being treated as a criminal?

How much does anyone wanna bet he does not get back the ammo worth ALOT of money.

I wonder if any of you doubt he will get teh legally owned weapons back either.

I would wager the best ones will be either "lost" or "destroyed accidentally"

Since when is being a collector or active shooter a crime?

[jakee 1,257]

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Gee maybe this guy was trying to make sure no firefighters were hurt?

Now the cops have him held in a mental ward on POLICE HOLD.

Its a possibility. Lets not go leaping to conclusions though eh?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Zipp0 1]

100 guns is no big deal, but who in the name of God needs a million rounds? I mean, sure, go ahead if it floats your boat, but it sounds like a possible hazard if not stored properly. That's a lot of gun powder.

Under what law did they sieze his property? It sounds like we don't have all of the information.

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Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Depending on the caliber it could have been just a pallet of .22lr

If it were anything larger I would say he may have had a really good investment strategy.

I know a guy who bought 3 million rounds of .50cal BMG APIT for 1 dollar per round off of the goverment.

He sold those in 2002 back to the Military at $3 per and could have gotten more but he is honest.

[warpedskydiver 0]

The .gov people used to encourage the building of fallout shelters and bunkers.

Now if you have one they will call it a hideout a bunker or tunnels, and that you are crazy.

We may need fallout shelters more than ever now.

I have met guys whom after retiring from "desk jobs", found it neccessary to build a home with escape tunnels and a defensive perimeter.

I guess they are crazy as well.

[Zipp0 1]

I keep a gun in my sock drawer - that sounds pretty nutty when you think about it.....

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Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[willard 0]

100 firearms, 1 mill. rounds= 10k/weapon. I've had that ratio of ammo on hand before for a couple of my favorites, an SKS and a Springfied .45. Had a lot of fun at the range with it, too! Where I grew up if a firearm was taken by the police for "evidence", even if no crime had been commited, it was rare for the owner to ever see it again.
The fire will probably be used as an excuse to seize and destroy all the guns and ammunition. "It was in a fire, the safety of the items is in question".
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

[GQ_jumper 4]

I keep a gun in my sock drawer - that sounds pretty nutty when you think about it.....

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Only if you use the gun to scare your socks out of dissapearing when you do laundry

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

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[dorbie 0]

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So ask yourselves why is he being treated as a criminal?

He's not, he's being treated as a disturbed individual who refused to leave a burning building.

[jakee 1,257]

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Where I grew up if a firearm was taken by the police for "evidence", even if no crime had been commited, it was rare for the owner to ever see it again.

What sort of justifications did they use for that, and did the owners even receive compensation?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[willard 0]

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Where I grew up if a firearm was taken by the police for "evidence", even if no crime had been commited, it was rare for the owner to ever see it again.

What sort of justifications did they use for that, and did the owners even receive compensation?

If there was a firearm present when any citation was written they would take the weapon with assurances that it would be returned when the case was settled. I'll give an example by what happened to me.
In '94 I purchased an AR-15. When I saw my dad that evening we decided to drive to a farm about a mile away, visit, and see if we could pick off a groundhog or two. Driving down a dirt road we spotted a 'hog. Dad pulled over, I got out with my unloaded rifle, grabbed a couple cartridges from the back of the truck, stepped across the ditch onto private property (where we did have written permission to hunt), loaded the AR, stalked within range and then shot the 'hog. I unloaded, walked back to the truck, put the unused ammo in the bed and got back in the cab. We then went to the barn and spent an hour or so talking with the landowner. As soon as we pulled out of the drive a sherrif's deputy pulled us over. He saw the rifle, had us put our hands on the dash, then reached in and removed it from the truck. (Understandable, just being safe). Someone has called in and said they saw me shoot from the road. He took the rifle to his car where he spent almost half an hour. When he came back to our truck he had written me a citation for "improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle". The bolt was closed. In Ohio a firearm must be umloaded and in a case or rack. If not in a case or rack then the action must be open. I was ok with everything up to that point. But when he said he was confiscating the rifle as evidence I knew I'd never see it again. I asked for his badge number and name, plus the name of his shift commander. He asked me why and I told him that I was going to hold him personally responsible for the care of that rifle until I got it back. I explained it was new, purchased that day, and how much it cost. Amazing how quickly someone can change their mind...he couldn't hand that rifle back to me fast enough!
When the case went to court it was a fiasco. I had entered a not guilty plea and hired a lawyer. At the first appearance the prosecutor had failed to supply my lawyer with a copy of the deputy's report. So we got a continuence. Same thing at the second court date. When we finally got a copy it was clear why they were hesitant to give us one. The deputy had lied in his report and said he had watched me shoot from the truck and that the truck was on the road at the time, both of which were lies.
At the last court date my lawyer met in chambers with the judge and prosecutor. He told them that I would change my plea to guilty on a charge of disorderly conduct and pay a $50 fine and NO court costs. Otherwise we would go to trial and the deputy would have to testify as to why he lied on the report. We had 4 witnesses ready to testify on my behalf. We got our way.
A few years before my friend's house was broken into and several guns stolen. The guns were recovered and presented as evidence. After the trial they were supposed to be returned, but somehow the sheriff's department "lost" them. My friend never got his guns back, his insurance would not pay for them since they were recovered, and the sheriff would not compensate for the loss. S.O.L on all counts.

I'm not saying this happens everywhere, but it does happen. I still believe that if I had let the cop take my AR that day I never would have seen it again nor would i have received any compensation.

[sundevil777 94]

But, but, cops don't lie.

Fuckers.

There should be a reality show, as a counter to the "Cops" show that portrays them as caring, good intentioned angels. More of bad cops should be caught abusing their power, to remind all of them who they serve.

I will apologize in advance to the one skydiver cop I know, and to others that actually are honest. In general, I think cops just don't have enough fear that their actions will be recorded for all to see.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[jakee 1,257]

Bastards!

I can't believe they'd get away with that sort of shit with 'normal' private possessions, or would they?

Edit: How much was it worth, if you don't mind me asking?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[kallend 1,644]

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Bastards!

I can't believe they'd get away with that sort of shit with 'normal' private possessions, or would they?

?

You might want to read the law on confiscation of property. You'd be surprised what the govt. can seize legally without any evidence of guilt whatsoever.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[warpedskydiver 0]

NORCO - Residents on Pali Drive lingered in driveways and front lawns Friday afternoon as a spectacle unfolded at their neighbor's charred and roofless house.

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A fire at the house Thursday led to authorities discovering more than one million rounds of ammunition, more than 125 guns and assault rifles, and 75 pounds of ammunition powder in the garage - as well as a mysterious underground tunnel.

Since then, the typically quiet, burnt sienna house had been swarming with investigators from local, state and federal agencies.

Police declined to release the owners' names Friday, but a record search of the property listed it as belonging to a Thomas and Sharon McKiernan.
Gary Eppler, who lives across the street, saw smoke coming from the wood-shingled roof, so he went over and pulled his sleeping neighbor from the burning house. Eppler's wife, Linda, dialed 9-1-1.

"He was passed out on the couch, and I got him out of the house," said Gary Eppler, a retired psychiatric nurse. "During the fire, we heard some of the bullets go off. And we heard a small explosion."

Officials evacuated about a dozen neighbors' homes around 5 p.m. Thursday as a precaution. As initial shock subsided and they were allowed to return to their homes Friday at about 1 a.m., residents had nothing but praise and support for the homeowner they know as "Tom."

"He wasn't a radical type of a person. He was very nice," said Sylvia Madruga, who has lived two houses away for 35 years. "If they were really rats, I'd be the first to say so. But they weren't. ... He's never done anything to hurt me, only to help me."

Madruga said he frequently looked after her late mother when she was alive and lived in the house next door to him.

He helped when there was a flat tire, for instance, and he didn't hesitate to come over and chase out a lizard if it wandered into her mother's house, Madruga said.

Still, some questions remain - the amount of ammo, the number of guns and the tunnel.

"I always felt safe around our neighborhood because I knew he had at least a couple guns," Madruga said. "I don't know what he had in mind ... if that was a bomb shelter, an escape or for hiding something. But I don't think he wanted to blow up the neighborhood."

Neighbors "Tiny" and Jennifer Bosch said the man's affinity for weapons has been blown out of proportion by authorities.

"I think he was just a collector. He was a quiet, good neighbor," Tiny Bosch said. "So the guy has a million rounds of ammo. Big deal. Most of your hunters have that."

Riverside County sheriff's officials said the homeowner was transported to a local mental health facility.

Witnesses said he was detained after struggling with authorities in front of his house Thursday while it was ablaze.

Madruga said she was just thankful her neighbor wasn't injured in the fire.

"Nobody's mad at him for having all that. Everyone's just glad he's all right and he's alive," Madruga said, though she admitted her granddaughter's bedroom being right next to a garage with weapons and ammunition did cause a bit of a scare.

Eppler, too, appeared to be as forgiving as the rest.

"We're more scared of a drug dealer with a gun than him," he said. "He was not a scary-type person ... just a really nice neighbor with a surprise cache of ammo."

[willard 0]

If my memory serves correctly I paid app. $1100 for the rifle. Too much to just let them take it without so much as an argument.

Kallend is right...they can take almost anything. The same sheriff department that I had the problems with got an almost new 4x4 pickup not long after that from a drug bust.

Once in a while they clear out their evidence room. Anything not claimed is put on a list and the list printed in the local paper along with a deadline for claiming the stuff. Never any good stuff, though. But there are always items like "1/2 marajuana cigarette" and "roach clip, w/roach". I always wondered what would happen if someone actually tried to claim it? Would the cops give them the goods, then bust 'em ?? They even listed "half bottle soda".