SWAT Arsenal Missing From Car That Was Stolen, Stripped

An arms-laden car stolen from a member of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team was found stripped Saturday in Glendale, with no trace of the missing weapons, authorities said.

The theft occurred Thursday night while Deputy Bill Chaffin, 34, was eating dinner at a Woodland Hills restaurant, Deputy Pete Fosselman said.

Chaffin’s red 1986 Camaro was locked and parked next to the Red Onion restaurant on Canoga Avenue. Stored in the rear of the car and hidden from sight were a 9-millimeter machine gun, a 12-gauge shotgun, a .38-caliber revolver, a .357-caliber magnum revolver, ammunition and uniforms, deputies said.

“There is an investigation going on as to whether the deputy violated department policy in the handling of the weapons, but that’s routine,” Deputy Dave Logan said.

Glendale police officers on patrol found the Camaro at 9 a.m. in the 1000 block of Mountain Street, Logan said. Two sets of khaki uniforms were recovered, but all the weapons and two sets of olive green Special Weapons and Tactics Team jump suits were missing, he said.

The Camaro’s front-end assembly, including the grille, was missing, as were both doors and the rear bumper, Fosselman said.

Chaffin had stopped for dinner at the popular Canoga Park restaurant and bar after returning from a training session earlier that day in the Santa Clarita Valley, deputies said.

He was authorized to have the weapons in his car and planned to return them to the Special Enforcement Bureau at the sheriff’s East Los Angeles substation, Logan said.

Chaffin has been assigned to the sheriff’s SWAT team for two years and has been a member of the Sheriff’s Department for almost 13 years, Fosselman said.