The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has charged a Sunnyvale apartment manager with possessing a cache of assault weapons and with operating a thriving heroin and methamphetamine business next door to an elementary school.
Brett Maxwell, 51, was arrested, and his apartment and a storage facility were searched. The Santa Clara County Gun Violence Task Force (SCCGVTF) – assisted by Sunnyvale, county sheriff, San Jose, and federal agencies – found 19 firearms including three assault weapons and several pounds of heroin and methamphetamine. The drugs had an estimated street value of $100,000.
The task force also found explosives.
Maxwell is charged with 25 felonies related to the possession of firearms, assault weapons, and narcotics for sale. Some of the firearms are ghost guns. He faces a significant prison sentence, if convicted.
“We will never accept turning our neighborhoods into gun and drug bazaars,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Thanks to the partnership between local and federal law enforcement agencies, we shut down both this extremely dangerous business and the reckless felon who ran it.”
On Nov. 13, members of the SCCGVTF and other agencies served a search warrant at an apartment complex in the Fair Oaks Park area. They found an arsenal of guns, drugs, and cash. Next door is an elementary school and a city playground.
The storage area was located several miles away. Investigators found guns, drugs, and explosives.
Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Chief Dan Pastor said: “Our work with the District Attorney’s Office led to the arrest of an individual possessing dangerous guns and selling drugs in our community. This kind of collaboration is essential to keeping our neighborhoods safe, and we’re grateful for our partners who help us remove these dangerous threats from our streets.”
