Posted by I-Have-A-Warrant, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 15, 2013 at 3:01 pm

> Because of concerns he might own illegal assault weapons,

What exactly does this mean? Are assault weapons supposed to be illegal? If so, how does one actually own such a weapon? It's understandable that someone might have possession of such a weapon, but how would such a person actually establish ownership?

It's a little difficult to fully understand why a person pushing fake credit cards would have an AK-47 (or any other kind of assault weapon), but certainly there is no reason not to believe that criminals like this person might have some sort of weapon in his possession.

As it turned out, the police were right. Which kind of begs the question: should every search warrent that is served be done so with the expectation that the person of interest might have a cache of weapons in the place that is being searched?

This situation seems to have turn out to be one that the good guys won, for a change.

Posted by musical, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Feb 15, 2013 at 3:39 pm

>> This situation seems to have turn out to be one that the good guys won, for a change.

Only temporarily.

Posted by legal assault weapons, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Feb 15, 2013 at 4:01 pm

Would they still call the SWAT team if they thought he had legal assault weapons? If the weapon is legal, are the police infringing on his 2nd amendment rights by raiding his house with the cavalry for a white collar fraud allegation?

Posted by Yuri, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Feb 15, 2013 at 4:42 pm

I should think they'd send the SWAT team simply for their own safety, to fight force with equal force.

Posted by Hulkamania, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Feb 15, 2013 at 5:31 pm

"If the weapon is legal, are the police infringing on his 2nd amendment rights by raiding his house with the cavalry for a white collar fraud allegation?"

Is he a member of a well regulated militia?

Posted by Silly, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 16, 2013 at 12:34 am

It's not infringing on a second amendment right u they have a search warrant. Plus them the fourth amendment would come more into play. I'm pretty sure some people are not allowed to be in possession of any firearms.

Who cares about the use of the swat team? Isn't that secondary to the offenses he's been accused of? I'm glad they got this guy, one more illegal gun off the street. He doesn't exactly sound like the type of responsible gun owner we hope to have in our communities

Posted by alex, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 16, 2013 at 7:41 am

Yuri,

This country is not supposed to work like that. I am anti-gun, but that also includes being against unreasonable force by police.

Posted by Les, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Feb 16, 2013 at 9:14 am

Hey critics, an assault weapon, or any other firearm for that matter is illegal to possess if you're a prior convicted felon like this guy. He's already way past being just a "white collar" criminal so spare us that argument, please. I'm willing to bet that his criminal history stretches way beyond that, and relied on this and other information while planning on how to approach this situation. I'm confident that the police had this as well additional information to feel compelled to use a SWAT team to make the arrest. As it turned out, they were right and no one got hurt.

Posted by I-Have-A-Warrant, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 16, 2013 at 10:15 am

> information to feel compelled to use a SWAT team

> to make the arrest. As it turned out, they were right and no

> one got hurt.

Maybe. But let’s also remember that Oakland is full of “bad guys”, who have no problem killing cops. It wasn’t that long ago that one of the fellows killed four Oakland cops within a couple of hours—all starting with a traffic stop:

Web Link

There’s no way of knowing if the police had any information about this fellow’s possible possession of weapons, unless they release that information. On the other hand, the Oakland police are fully aware of how much violence they have to deal with on a daily basis. No reason not to be prudent, and take as much fire power as needed, in that town.

Posted by Les, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Feb 16, 2013 at 11:11 am

And I'm quite sure that Palo Alto officers would have met with and shared there intentions to conduct the search warrant with Oakland PD. That is a standard procedure, especially if an agency from out of town is coming in to conduct an operation like this. Oakland PD may have very well had additional information about either this specific suspect, or the address where he resides. Considering his past criminal history of drug dealing and felony convictions, and going into an area wrought with violence and street crime, I am not the least bit surprised that a SWAT unit was utilized for this operation.

Posted by Neal, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, on Feb 17, 2013 at 6:41 am

Why second guess the Palo Alto PD? Good job PAPD. Using the SWAT team to assist Oakland PD gives them much needed hands on experience which will make them better prepared for the next time they're needed.