Assault Rifle Found In Palos Verdes Home Where Son Robbed Mom: PD

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, CA — Palos Verdes Estates police officers recovered two unregistered, short-barreled AR-15-style rifles and an unregistered 9 mm handgun from a Palos Verdes Estates home after a mother told authorities her son robbed her, police announced Friday.

Maxwell Minder, 29, was charged with robbery, making criminal threats, two counts of possession of an assault weapon, two counts of possession of a short-barreled rifle and possession of brass knuckles, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records obtained by KTLA. He pleaded not guilty to all seven counts, the news station reported.

PVEPD officers responded to an emergency call from Minder's mother, who said her son had tried to stab her and took property from her. Officers arrived at the scene and found the mother had not been physically harmed, but she told officers she believed her son had firearms inside the home.

Officers asked the son to exit the house so there would be less of a chance of confrontation — he complied with authorities and left the house, PVEPD said.

"We later learned he recognized one of the PVEPD officers on scene and called him by name. This officer had previously developed a good rapport with the son and this set the son more at ease, again lessening the chance of confrontation," police said.

Officers searched the house and found two short-barreled AR-15-style rifles with high capacity magazines and a 9 mm handgun — all were loaded and unregistered, the PVEPD said. Based on a previous incident, Minder was prohibited from having any firearms in his possession. Police took possession of the guns and PVEPD detectives are investigating how he acquired the firearms, authorities said.

The case was presented to the District Attorney's Office, and seven felony counts were filed. Minder was scheduled to appear in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Nov. 6 for a hearing in his case, according to county booking records obtained by KTLA. Bail was set at $70,000, and Minder is in custody at the Twin Tower Correctional Facility in downtown L.A., the news station reported.

"This type of incident is considered a 'high risk, low frequency' event and is why our training is extremely important," the PVEPD said. "We also believe our community policing efforts paid off big time here as our officer had previously developed a relationship with this individual which helped deescalate the situation."