Two people were taken into custody in connection with the theft of two guns from the home of mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass in the Baldwin Vista section of Los Angeles, police announced Wednesday.
Patricio Munoz, 42, and Juan Espinoza, 24, were located in a suspect vehicle in the area of Hazeltine Avenue and Sylvan Street in Van Nuys on Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed.
Both men were booked into jail for residential burglary. Munoz is being held on $500,000 bail, while Espinoza is being held without bail.
Bass told Fox 11’s Elex Michaelson on Wednesday that she came home Friday night to find her house in disarray. Fox 11 first reported that two suspects were in custody. Their names and other details were not released.
Bass, D-Los Angeles, told Michaelson she had the guns “for personal safety, as do many people.”
“I think that gun control is extremely important,” Bass said. “But I have never believed that people — if they wanted to have guns — should not have them.”
Bass said she had the guns for protection. She said they were registered and stored in a lockbox that was “stashed” in a closet. The Los Angeles Times previously reported that the container was a Brink’s lockbox.
When asked by Michaelson if she thought she had been targeted, Bass pivoted to talking about how “Angelenos all around the city are not feeling safe.”
The Los Angeles Police Department beefed up its presence in the neighborhood after the burglary, The Times reported. A police cruiser was seen parked outside Bass’ home Sunday, according to The Times.
Anyone with information on the burglary was asked to call Southwest Area Detective Colleen Stout-Ryder at 213-485-7522 or the LAPD’s 24/7 tipline at 877-527-3247. Tipsters can also Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
Updated Sept. 14, 2022, 9:52 p.m.
