Assault rifles, other guns stolen from Harbor City home, LAPD says

Detectives are trying to find whoever broke into a Harbor City home and stole assault rifles, semiautomatic handguns and other firearms -- and are asking for the public’s help.

The break-in occurred about 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 20, at a house near Western Avenue and Palos Verdes Drive North, LAPD Officer Brian Frieson said. No one was home at the time of the break in. Some electronics and more than half a dozen guns were taken, Frieson said.

The stolen weapons included two assault rifles, two shotguns, two semiautomatic handguns and a revolver, Frieson said.

“There’s pretty much an arsenal out there, and that’s very alarming,” the officer said.

Gift cards to Target were also stolen from the home, Frieson said, and used the following afternoon at a store in Inglewood.

Investigators spoke with the Century Boulevard store and pulled surveillance footage showing a man and a teenager using the gift cards and leaving in a light-blue car, Frieson said. The officer said investigators would like to speak to the two people, whom he described as “persons of interest” in the case.

The surveillance footage shows the man and teen chatting as the teenager pushes a cart out of the store. The footage then shows them walking to an older two-door car that Frieson said may be a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

One of the men is thought to be between the ages of 35 and 45, Frieson said, with tattoos and a mustache. He wore a black Ecko T-shirt in the surveillance footage.

The second person is younger, Frieson said, possibly between the ages of 16 and 18. He wore a blue or gray hooded sweatshirt in the footage.

Frieson asked anyone who recognized the man or the teenager to call police at (310) 726-7859.

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