Crime & Safety
Pasadena Police Lieutenant's Firearms Seized By Feds In Raid
The cache of weapons, worth tens of thousands, was an enormous haul that took two trucks to cart away.
PASADENA, CA -- Federal agents seized about five dozen firearms worth tens of thousands of dollars from a high-ranking Pasadena police officer during a raid this year, a newspaper reported Wednesday, citing newly released government records.
The Feb. 16 search of the officer's Sierra Madre home by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was widely publicized, but authorities did not identify the officer or detail what was recovered, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The cache of weapons was an enormous haul that took two trucks to cart away.
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A federal registry of potential forfeited assets listed 57 firearms that were seized from the home of Lt. Vasken Gourdikian, who most recently served as the Pasadena Police Department's spokesman and an adjutant to Chief Phillip L. Sanchez, The Times reported.
After the ATF raid, Gourdikian was placed on paid administrative leave, the Pasadena Police Department launched an internal investigation and his biography was removed from the city's website.
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At Gourdikian's four-bedroom home in the San Gabriel Valley, agents reported hauling off more than 30 pistols, three shotguns and 20 rifles, among other weapons. The arsenal included small handguns as well as such tactical weapons as a $1,700 Bushmaster combat rifle, the records show. The estimated value of each seized gun ranged from $100 to $3,800, The Times reported.
Gourdikian, who has worked for the Pasadena Police Department since 1994, has not been charged with a crime, and city officials said the ATF search was unrelated to his work with the department. He remains on leave, city spokesman William Boyer said this week.
An ATF spokeswoman quoted by The Times said there was an ongoing federal investigation into the officer. The federal search warrant for Gourdikianís home remains under seal.
The spokeswoman said her agency has found law enforcement officers who were acting as firearms dealers, apparently buying and reselling weapons without a federal firearms license, a violation of federal law.
-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock
