Guns, ammo, Nazi memorabilia and doves found at home of H.B. man suspected of criminal threats

A search of a Huntington Beach man’s home Tuesday yielded more than 50 firearms, ammunition and Nazi memorabilia, police said Wednesday.

Mitchell Todd, 51, was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats related to a business dispute about doves that were supposed to be released at a Laguna Beach funeral, police said.

Laguna Beach police served a search warrant at the home in the 15000 block of Cambay Lane in Huntington Beach, Laguna police spokesman Jim Cota said.

Of the firearms found — including handguns, rifles and “older-style weapons” — only 12 were registered to Todd, Cota said.

Along with the weapons, police discovered Nazi and Confederate flags and a photo of Adolf Hitler, police said.

Police don’t have information to tie the suspect to organized hate groups, though they are continuing to investigate, Cota said.

Todd raises and releases doves for a living, and authorities found more than 200 of the birds at his home, Cota said. They will be cared for by a family member, police said.

The investigation stemmed from a business dispute between the suspect and a Laguna Beach man who contracted with him to fly the birds at his son’s funeral earlier this month, police said.

The funeral lasted longer than expected and the dove release did not occur, police said.

The contract stated that “if payment wasn’t made and the act wasn’t performed, aka the releasing of doves, then there was a $1,000 fee attached or something that was kind of ridiculous,” Cota said.

When the man didn’t pay, he received threats that “people were going to come after him” and comments that “maybe you belong or need to go to where your son went,” Cota said.

He also received a voicemail that included the sound of sliding the rack of a firearm, Cota said.

When the investigation revealed that the suspect had 12 firearms registered to him, “we knew we had to move on this quick,” Cota said.

Todd was booked on suspicion of criminal threats, though authorities also may consider firearms-related charges, said Cota, who noted that Todd’s home is across from a school. California law prohibits possession of a firearm within 1,000 feet of school grounds.

Todd was transferred to a hospital for psychological evaluation, police said.

julia.sclafani@latimes.com