Posted on 12/12/2001 2:01:08 AM PST by Sandy
NEW HAVEN — Police in bulletproof vests Tuesday converged on a quiet Westville neighborhood and seized an arsenal of illegal assault rifles, canisters of live ammunition and a box of hand grenades from a pricey home.
A 31-year-old man who lives in the house was arrested.
"I've only seen this in a Bruce Willis movie," said one stunned neighbor, who came outside to survey the spectacle.
Inside 851 Forest Road, police recovered at least four AR-15 assault weapons, authorities said. The guns, a civilian version of the military M-16, are illegal in Connecticut. They also recovered bomb-making manuals and volumes of hate literature, police said.
"It's an ongoing investigation," said state police Lt. Robert Kiehm, the commanding officer of the Special Licensing and Firearms unit, which spearheaded the investigation. "We went in looking for assault rifles. During the search, we were able to find several."
The grenades were an unexpected discovery, authorities said.
"The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) and bomb squad are trying to make a determination if they are dummy grenades or active," Kiehm said.
The search shocked the quiet, wooded neighborhood of trimmed lawns and well-kept homes.
State and New Haven police arrested Charles Cornelius according to New Haven Sgt. Steve Shea.
Cornelius was charged with four counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon by the state police. He also was arrested on a New Haven warrant, Shea said. Both the state and city warrants were ordered sealed by a Superior Court judge, and details of the allegations were not immediately available.
Kiehm and Shea would detail how the investigation unfolded or how they first learned of the weapons.
Kiehm would only state that warrants were the result of a six-month investigation into Cornelius. Despite the hate literature and heavy firepower, police said they found no evidence Cornelius was planning an attack on a specific institution or person.
"Hopefully, we've gotten here before that," Kiehm said.
The Cornelius home is at the corner of Forest and Cleveland roads near Hopkins School in an upscale section of Westville.
Cornelius lived there with his parents.
His father, Eugene Cornelius, is an associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine. A neighbor said he recently retired.
Charles Cornelius attended Hopkins from 1982 to 1987, but didn't graduate, school officials said.
Police said Cornelius' parents apparently were unaware of the weapons in their home.
In addition to New Haven and state police, agents from the ATF and FBI were on the scene.
The investigators combed through the house and emptied the contents of the two-car garage into the driveway, leaving a tarp-covered Porsche parked inside.
Investigators spent hours cataloging the evidence in the driveway. They toted out five metal boxes containing ammunition and shotgun shells. They also found a variety ammunition magazines for assault rifles, a pistol-gripped shotgun and several handguns, Kiehm said.
Among the literature, he said, police found books on how to make bombs and incendiary devices.
In other literature, they found pamphlets denouncing a variety of ethnic and religious groups, including books from white supremacists.
"We found materials relating to the Church of the Creator," Kiehm said.
The Illinois-based group is led by white supremacist Matt Hale, who in March held a rally in Wallingford.
The seized weapons will be sent to the state police lab for test firing and then held as evidence, Kiehm said.
Cornelius was held in lieu of $325,000 bail on the state and local warrants.
Police said more arrests are possible.
Do you have a beef with the NRA?
Can I interest you in some summer sausage? :)
"Live" ammo as well as "Live" guns are capable of action independent of human intervention. This is particularly nasty stuff my friends. The old adage "Guns don't kill..." no longer holds water. The gun grabbers are correct, guns are evil and can, when around "live" ammo, load themselves and commit acts of mayhem. I suggest we all search our arsenals and if any "live" ammo is found call the proper authorities immediately. The ensuing arrest, interrogation and imprisonment is a small price to pay if just one child is saved
The investigation seems to pre-date the Patriot Act. I do not like sealed indictments or secret courts either.
Many - all based on their policy of preemptive surrender and compromise.
This is a state law, so why were BATF and FBI on the scene?
Right you are!
I keep my "arsenal" locked in a safe, and store my ammunition in another state. That way, if the guns get out, and try to start something they are impotent.
Ah, the sweaty Matt Hale, the pride of East Peoria, Illinois, he of the cheap brown suit, and his buddy, Ben Smith, who shot a whole bunch of "mud" people in Illinois & Indiana over the 4th of July weekend a few years back--that's what got him the attention of the local and federal constabulatory. Those World Church of the Creator folks are slime.
Clearly the New Haven reporter was a student of Professor Michael Brown's School of Journalism. (Caution: Satire)
Or course, neither article is particularly useful in explaining the state of the law regarding these weapons in CT. Posession of them is legal in CT if the S.U.G.'s(Sport Utility Gun's) were bought before the ban and then registered with the state. Also, the weapons would likely be legal but for having a different name, serial number and/or some cosmetic differences.
I guess, for some people anyway, living in the northeast may not be so great after all.
Unjust laws can be rendered null and void by a few good people.
Indeed, subversion of rights, whether by terrorism or democracy, is subversion of rights. The pen is mightier than the sword and should carry a heavier price. It's time we controled the pens of liberals, not the guns.
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