L.A. Police seize explosives, machine guns from gang
Police detonate explosives, sieze machine guns in Mar Vista [Updated]
February 4, 2010 | 7:49 pm
Los Angeles police were in Mar Vista on Thursday night detonating explosives that were uncovered, along with dozens of firearms, in a house that had been raided by gang and narcotics officers, according to authorities.
The undercover operation, which had been ongoing for several weeks, culminated when officers served a search warrant Thursday morning on a home in the 12700 block of Woodgreen Street, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
More than 100 firearms -- including about 20 machine guns -- and a number of explosive devices were found at the home in a quiet tree-lined neighborhood just south of Palms Avenue, the LAPD said.
At the home, officers arrested Brian David Cochran on suspicion of possessing machine guns, said Officer April Harding.
[Updated: 9:45 p.m.: Cochran, 63, was released on $45,000 bail and is scheduled to appear for a court hearing Feb. 25, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.]
Police cars, fire trucks and ambulances were parked nearby as an LAPD bomb squad continued to detonate the explosives Thursday evening, according to residents.
Resident James Pruden said he could hear officers shouting, "Fire in the hole!"
"They're not big explosions," he said. "Still, they're unnerving."
-- Robert J. Lopez
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... vista.html
