Marine, S.F. Officer Held in Probe of Illegal Arms

A Marine stationed in San Diego County and a veteran San Francisco police officer were arrested Tuesday after discovery of a stockpile of illegal guns and explosives, San Francisco Police Chief Frank Jordan said.

The Marine, Cpl. Gustavo Rodriguez of Camp Pendleton, and officer Alejandro Serrano, 31, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco with illegally possessing and transferring unregistered automatic weapons, hand grenades and explosives.

Rodriguez was being held Tuesday by the Naval Investigative Service at the Marine base in northern San Diego County, a military spokesman said. He added that Rodriguez, 21, of San Francisco, is an “ammo technician” assigned to the 1st Marine Division; as such, he was responsible for keeping his unit supplied with ammunition.

Serrano, who in addition to the weapons offenses also has been charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana, was released from the San Francisco Jail on $500,000 bail, police said.

Serrano, a nine-year police veteran, was suspended without pay from the Police Department, as was another nine-year veteran, Alexander D. Alfaro. Details of the second officer’s involvement were not disclosed. Jordan said both officers had good service records until now.

McNulty said investigators had no solid evidence indicating what the police officers planned to do with the weaponry. He added that the investigation is continuing.

An affidavit filed with the federal criminal complaint quoted Serrano as telling investigators that Rodriguez approached the police veteran about a year ago with a plan to steal military explosives and hand grenades from Camp Pendleton.

Disclosure of the charges capped a three-week investigation by San Francisco police and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents. The probe began when a citizen reported that military hand grenades were being offered for sale at a busy Nob Hill intersection.

“For almost three months, we had been aware that military explosives were for sale in our area,” said William McNulty, assistant special agent in charge of the firearms bureau’s office in San Francisco. “How long they’ve been doing it (selling weapons) I really can’t say.”

Finally, on Feb. 21, undercover agents were able to arrange a street-corner meeting to purchase four grenades for $100 each from a man identified as Howard Stevenson. He was arrested, police said, and is cooperating with investigators, as are the two suspected police officers.

After the purchase, McNulty said, investigators traced serial numbers on the grenades to Camp Pendleton and linked them to Rodriguez. The trail then took them back to San Francisco and eventually to the two police officers and to an even larger stockpile of weapons.

In three raids Friday and Monday, lawmen searching in and around Serrano’s home in Daly City seized two fully automatic machine guns equipped with silencers, about 60 hand grenades and 120 pounds of C-4 military plastic explosives in three locations.

Most of the explosives, including 100 feet of detonator cord and 50 blasting caps, were found at a San Mateo residence Monday night. The owners of the house said that Serrano had asked them to store several items in their garage, including two footlockers that contained the ordnance.

Jordan said the owners of the home apparently did not know what was in the lockers and are not considered to be suspects. A two-block area around the home was evacuated during the raid, but the material was safely removed and destroyed.

Police Sgt. Bob Hulsey said that had the explosives gone off prematurely, the house “would have vanished, and the homes on each side would be destroyed and windows all over San Mateo would have been broken.” He said the grenades were especially dangerous, each having a “kill radius” of 50 to 75 yards.

Officers later found a smaller stockpile of explosives buried in a Daly City ravine near the San Francisco Golf Club. While arresting Serrano at his nearby home, police seized more weapons and a small amount of marijuana.

Times staff writer Eric Bailey in Carlsbad contributed to this story.