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6,500 Pounds Of Fireworks Seized From Compton Home

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies have seized a cache of 6,500 pounds of illegal fireworks, a gun stolen from a police officer and approximately $30,000 in cash at a home in Compton.

Sheriff's officials said in a release that deputies executed a search warrant Tuesday at a home in the 1100 block of East Pine Street, where they found a detached garage that had been converted into a fireworks stand with skyrockets, mortars and assorted pyrotechnics and explosives. The fireworks, which were being sold illegally, are valued at $15,000.

They also found a gun that was reported stolen from a Long Beach police officer.

"Storing large amounts of fireworks in a residential area is extremely dangerous," Captain Diane Walker of the LASD Compton Sheriff's Station said in a statement. "One spark could have ignited thousands of pounds of gunpowder-filled dangerous fireworks. This could have been devastating and deadly for a neighborhood of innocent people."

Two men were arrested and now face charges of possessing of an explosive device, selling fireworks without a permit, and receiving stolen property.

Both were booked into the sheriff's Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. Their names were not released.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)


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