After Wright was acquitted of every charge except the misdemeanor of owning a semi-automatic banned in California—for which he received probation, and which did not disqualify him from gun ownership—he should have gotten his guns back. Instead, LAPD destroyed the collection with an estimated worth of over $700,000.
Now Wright is suing the LAPD, alleging they violated his civil rights, as well as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, because they destroyed the guns to show that LAPD’s “Gun Unit” was effective and deserving of federal grant money.