Booby-Trapped Garage Lands Man In Hospital For Mental Health Evaluation: SMPD

SANTA MONICA, CA — A man accused of booby-trapping his Santa Monica home with ammunition and homemade trigger devices was taken into custody Sunday, according to police.

Officers responded to the home on the 3300 block of Exposition Boulevard at around 5:50 p.m. Sunday in response to an emergency call in which a neighbor told authorities that she heard gunshots from inside the house and heard a man threatening to kill someone, the Santa Monica Police Departments said Monday.

Inside the house, officers met two women — described as elderly and unharmed — as well as a third member of the household, Arthur Tabuchi, 61, police said.

In the garage, officers found a shotgun shell mounted on a work bench. The shell had been rigged with a spring-loaded firing pin, with a wire attached to the end of the pin and the garage door. The wire was set to pull the pin out of the housing and fire the shell toward the door when opened, police said.

A second shotgun shell was set up in a similar manner adjacent to a pedestrian gate outside. That shell was modified to be a "sound diversion device," it did not include a projectile. The device had recently been discharged: Police said they believe it produced the sound that prompted the neighbor to call authorities.

Police evacuated the house and called in a Los Angeles County bomb squad to clear the residence. Officers dismantled the shotgun shell in the garage and found no additional booby traps, police said.

Detectives executed a search warrant and found "additional illegally obtained ammunition," police said.

Tabuchi was taken to a hospital for mental health evaluation. Police plan to file felony charges of assembling, placing and maintaining a booby trap against Tabuchi with the District Attorney's office, the SMPD said.