More than 100 weapons, including sawed-off shotguns, were seized at the home of the Los Angeles Police Department officer accused of having sex with an underage police cadet, a source close to the investigation said Friday.
The latest development in the cadet program scandal came a day after the arrest of 31-year-old Officer Robert Cain, a 10-year veteran of the LAPD, on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female cadet.
The weapons seized at his Rancho Cucamonga residence included sawed off shotguns, a grenade launcher and inert grenades, the source told NBC4. Authorities were attempting to determine whether any of the weapons were illegal.
Cain's attorney didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Video showed officers removing weapons and other items from Cain's home Thursday afternoon.
A neighbor told the Los Angeles Times that Cain keeps a large gun collection.
Cain was arrested around 11 a.m. Thursday by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck at the 77th Street Division station, where Cain is assigned. Search warrants were served at his Rancho Cucamonga home, on his vehicle, locker, phone and social media accounts, police said.
The cadet program was shaken last week with the arrest of seven juvenile participants for the theft of three police cruisers. Two of those cruisers were crashed June 14 by the cadets at the end of pursuits in South Los Angeles.
The 15-year-old girl involved in the alleged sexual relationship with Cain is one of the seven cadets who were arrested, according to the chief. Beck said the relationship between Cain and the 15-year-old girl appeared to be short-term, occurring "within the past month," but he said investigators were still looking through phone records and social media.
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Investigators learned about the alleged illicit relationship when they reviewed text messages on the arrested teen's cellphone, Beck said.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents LAPD officers, issued a statement saying if the allegations are true, "we applaud the department for taking swift action."
"There should be zero tolerance for any officer who takes advantage of those they are entrusted to protect," according to the union. "We are deeply disturbed by this development and condemn this officer's alleged actions in the strongest possible terms."
Of the seven arrested cadets, six were assigned to the 77th Street Division program and one was assigned to Pacific Division. Beck last week suspended the cadet program at those two divisions.
Beck, speaking at a Police Commission meeting Tuesday, said the arrested cadets on a number of occasions impersonated police officers and initiated traffic stops of motorists, although no one who was pulled over was handcuffed, had force used on them or was issued a citation.
The cadet program has more than 2,300 active participants, and Beck continued to express support for the program. He said he still plans to attend the program's graduation ceremony this Saturday, and he encouraged the media and public to attend "so they can see the other 2,200 cadets who so well served this city and are such good examples of young people in Los Angeles."
An LAPD supervisor doing inventory discovered that a squad car was missing from the 77th Street station on June 14, and the investigation quickly identified a female cadet caught on camera driving it off the lot, Beck said last week. Police spotted two squad cars driving in tandem around 9:35 p.m. that night near the 77th Street station, leading to the chases.
Cain, who had been assigned to the 77th Street Station for the past two years and was not formally involved in the cadet program, was being held in lieu of $75,000 bail at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, according to sheriff's inmate records that did not indicate a pending court appearance.
