Posted: 1/21/2006 8:33:30 PM EDT
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Police dog used to obtain warrant
A BART police bomb dog helped police confirm an anonymous tip and then get a search warrant for a Walnut Creek home where they found a cache of illegal weapons and explosives.
The dog, Andy,, and his handler, BART Officer Jason Ledford walked along the sidewalk of the Countrywood neighborhood several times, said Walnut Creek Lt. Steve Skinner. "Their dogs are trained to alert on certain chemicals and he hit on the house almost immediately, giving the citizen's tip some validity," Skinner said.
Police received the anonymous tip last week that explosives and assault weapons were being stored at a Countrywood Court home, Skinner said. "We can't write a search warrant based on an anonymous tip, so we needed some confirmation," he said.
With Andy's positive detection, near the home's garage door, police obtained a search warrant and served it Friday.
Walnut Creek investigators asked BART for help because BART began cross training the agency's dogs to sniff for explosives after the March 2004 bombings of two passenger trains in Madrid, Spain.
Inside the home, investigators recovered 15 rifles, including a Colt AR-15 and two AK-47s that were illegally modified to be fully automatic, and 10 handguns, including some fitted with illegal extended magazines.
In the garage, detectives found four hand-held explosives filled with gunpowder and lead shot. "It was a fragmentation grenade," Skinner said. "It wouldn't blow up a building, but it would definitely do damage to a person."
Police arrested the homeowner, Ivan Gutzalenko, on suspicion of possession of destructive devices, illegal assault weapons and machine guns, according to a news release. He is being held on $3 million bail at County Jail in Martinez.
Gutzalenko's wife was questioned and released. No children were living in the home, police said. Skinner said there is no indication that Gutzalenko is affiliated with any foreign or domestic terrorist group. "He has a history of survivalist type of stuff, he thrives on this sort of thing, but there's nothing to suggest he planned to use it," Skinner said.
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http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/cctimes/news/transportation/13660926.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_transportation
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AKs i can believe, but an AR 'illegally' modified for full auto? highly doubt it.
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