Armed when arrested near Jefferson High in South LA
A Pasadena man who allegedly brandished a loaded ghost gun near a South Los Angeles high school last year has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of possessing machine gun parts.
Isaac Loftus, 26, is expected to enter his plea on a date to be determined.
Prosecutors said law enforcement received a call around lunchtime on Nov. 22 about an armed person wearing a tactical vest and cargo pants in the vicinity of Thomas Jefferson High School. A witness said the man later identified as Loftus had pointed a firearm at two passing motorists, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Loftus, who at first allegedly refused to obey multiple commands to stop and attempted to walk away from officers, eventually complied and was detained and later arrested, prosecutors said.
Loftus’ plea agreement, filed Aug. 9 in Los Angeles federal court, states that law enforcement removed a 9mm handgun with no serial number, commonly known as a ghost gun, that contained one round in the chamber and six rounds in the magazine, from a holster on Loftus’ front right hip area. The holster was decorated with symbols commonly associated with the Boogaloo extremist movement, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in January.
The affidavit states that Loftus told the officers who arrested him that he was named “Yahweh’--Hebrew for God–and they would “be dead” if they continued to question him. After he was arrested and in custody, he spontaneously told officers that “judgment day has been delayed,” according to the sworn affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Geoffrey Colvin.
Loftus is prohibited from possessing firearms as a result of having been declared a danger to himself and others in 2016, the document says.
The plea agreement says Loftus would face up to 10 years behind bars at sentencing and a period of supervised release to include participation in an in-patient mental health treatment program.
The Boogaloos are a loosely organized anti-government extremist movement whose adherents believe there will be a civil war or uprising against the United States government following perceived incursions on constitutional rights, including the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms and other perceived government overreach, prosecutors said.
On Loftus’ person, officers allegedly also recovered two heavy-duty zip ties, a tactical plate carrier, a pocket knife with a three-inch blade, a black knife with a four-inch fixed blade and two key fobs for a Honda Clarity that had been reported stolen from a car dealership earlier in the day. The Honda had also been involved in a hit-and-run accident that same day, located about five blocks from where Loftus was arrested, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Law enforcement searched the Honda and found a loaded 9mm ghost gun in the glove compartment and a toolbox containing the upper and lower receiver of a nearly 12-inch AR-style rifle, a drop-in device designed for converting a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic machine gun, dozens of rounds of various calibers of ammunition, roughly 23 magazines and a silencer, according to the affidavit.
During a search of Loftus’ residence, law enforcement allegedly found firearms and firearms cases, dozens of additional auto sears, and a large U.S. flag with symbols consistent with the Boogaloo ideology, court papers show.
Prosecutors say that in December 2016, Loftus was placed on a mental health hold under California Welfare Institutions Code and was deemed a danger to himself or others or gravely disabled. Loftus incurred a lifetime prohibition on firearms as a result.
