What started out as a simple robbery investigation turned up a startling amount of fire power when SWAT officers raided a house in South San Francisco June 3.
Dozens of high powered guns and bombs were seized, including 22 assault rifles, a dozen handguns, two sniper rifles, a pair of shotguns and thousands of rounds of ammunitions, along with explosives, a grenade, pipe bombs and a bomb-making kit.
“Information developed out of this investigation leads us to believe that these guns were meant for a price to be trafficked on the streets of the Bay View district here in San Francisco,” said San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr.
Suhr says the two suspects, 56-year-old Homer Matthews and 31-year-old Austen Chini, who were arrested at the house, have been responsible for a string of armed robberies that started with a gas station in the Bay View. Surveillance cameras caught the picture of one of them wearing a black Letterman’s jacket.
“Some very vigilant officers in the Bay View spotted the guy wearing the black Letterman’s jacket walking down Third street,” Said Sgt. Martin Band. “The suspect matched the video that led to the SWAT team search of this house around dawn on June 3.”
