SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A man who was arrested after authorities found an arsenal of weapons at his home while investigating his son's alleged threats to shoot up Rancho Bernardo High School was released on bond Tuesday night.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department confirmed to ABC 10News that Neal Anders was released on bond at 8:29 p.m. on Feb. 6. His bail had been set at $300,000 during his arraignment.
According to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, Anders was fired from his job, which it says differs from the representation made during his arraignment. Team 10 learned he was employed as a deputy engineer at Innovative Defense Technologies, a military defense contractor.
The court has imposed two additional conditions for Anders' bail: a Fourth Amendment waiver connected to his personal electronics and an order to not possess firearms, ammunition and parts for guns.
Court documents indicate Anders is charged with 19 felonies and six misdemeanors, including:
- Manufacture, distribute, transport, import, sell, give assault weapon (one felony count)
- Possession of destructive device (one felony count)
- Possession of short-barreled rifle or shotgun (three felony counts)
- Possession of an assault weapon (12 felony counts)
- Possession of ZIP gun (two felony counts)
- Manufacturing or assembling handgun without serial number (six misdemeanor counts)
Anders' son made the threat against his high school on Friday, Jan. 26, Deputy District Attorney Roza Egiazarian said during the Feb. 1 arraignment.
She said the boy told several of his freshmen classmates he was going to bring guns to school and claimed he had easy access to them at home due to a broken lock.
The San Diego Police Department obtained a gun violence restraining order and searched the boy’s home on Monday, Jan. 29, leading to Anders' arrest as officers uncovered the trove of weapons.
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“There were 29 assault rifles, nine of we charged were unserialized, which is the crime. You cannot have, in the state of California, an unserialized assault rifle," Egiazarian said. "There were nine. There were also what we believe to be the ability to manufacture more. There were books as it relates to manufacturing and making assault rifles, AKs.”
A rocket launcher and grenades were also found during the search.
The deputy district attorney said police have no evidence Anders was planning any kind of attack on the school with his son.
Defense attorney Gregory Garrison said his client has no criminal history and holds a secret government clearance. Garrison entered a not guilty plea to all the charges against Anders during the arraignment.
The district attorney's office said Anders faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, if convicted.
