California Department of Justice agents searched a residential care home in Concord on October 29 and recovered 11 firearms, including eight assault weapons, tucked away in an upstairs area of the facility. The home, according to a press release, housed both elderly residents and infant children. An employee was arrested in connection with the find and now faces a stack of felony weapons charges.
The seizure was announced by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office said agents served a search warrant at the facility and arrested a care home employee, according to CBS News. The attorney general's office confirmed the seizure in a statement, saying, “California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the seizure of 11 firearms following the execution of a search warrant at a residential care home in Concord and the arrest of an employee,” according to the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
Guns Found Upstairs in a Home for Vulnerable Residents
The press release did not name the care facility or disclose its address, the station's report notes. What it did describe was the mix of people living under its roof: elderly residents alongside infant children, a detail that has fueled concern over how the firearms ended up stored there in the first place. Agents located the cache of weapons in an upstairs portion of the home during the October 29 search.
Bonta framed the discovery in stark terms. “A residential care setting is supposed to be a sanctuary of safety and protection,” he said, per the same account. He added that “introducing firearms into a care environment raises serious concerns about residents' and workers' well-being and safety.”
Employee Identified in Court Documents, Facing Multiple Felonies
Court documents identify the arrested employee as Alekisanita Mataele. Per the article, Mataele faces nine felony counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon, one felony count of importation of an assault weapon, and one felony count of importation of a large-capacity magazine. A single misdemeanor count was also filed, accusing Mataele of improperly storing a firearm in a manner that could allow a child or a prohibited person to gain access to it.
The case was reported by Carlos E. Castañeda, senior editor for news and social media at CBS Bay Area, in an article published in the crime section of CBS San Francisco. No further details on the status of the charges, a plea, or a court date have been released.
