FBI Car Filled With Guns Is Stolen From Agent’s House

An unmarked FBI car with a cache of weapons and ammunition in the trunk was stolen from the home of an agent who parked it there overnight, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Wednesday.

The trunk of the gray 1992 Buick Skylark contained an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, two 9-millimeter handguns and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to investigators. Also inside were two FBI raid jackets, a bulletproof vest, a hand-held two-way radio, handcuffs and other equipment.

Investigators did not know if the theft--which occurred between 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and 7:10 a.m. Wednesday--was random or a pre-planned effort, said Sgt. Barry Sandstrom. He said the agent, whose name and duties for the FBI were not released, lives in Canyon Country.

“He parked the car at about 10:30 p.m. on the street in front of his house and when he went out the next morning at 7:10 to go to work he found it missing,” Sandstrom said.

Sandstrom did not know if the car is equipped with an alarm or tracking device, but said the agent made no mention of such equipment to deputies. Neighbors told investigators they did not hear or see anything unusual during the night.

“We’ve got a lot of people out looking for it, but whoever took it had a long time to get out of the area,” Sandstrom said. He added that there were no apparent glass fragments near where the car was parked, an indication that the car was stolen without any of the windows being broken.

Sandstrom said the motives of the thief will be considered when determining if the case is handled differently from any other auto burglary.

“If they know who the victim is and they know or suspect there are weapons in it then, yeah, we can get them for weapons violations,” he said. “If this is just an opportunist who took the car and later discovers the guns, then it depends on what they do with them.”