Authorities seized more than two dozen guns, including illegal assault-style rifles and silencers, along with 15,000 rounds of ammunition from an Ojai man’s home after a separate investigation resulted in his arrest and a search of the residence.

The weapons seizure stemmed from a runaway juvenile case in Camarillo that began in March, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office reported. The agency provides police services in Camarillo and Ojai.

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Detectives searching for a girl who had run away from a Camarillo residence discovered she was staying with her mother — who was wanted on a felony warrant — in an apartment in Carpinteria, according to authorities. Detectives said they also learned the girl’s sister, a juvenile from Oxnard, had been reported as a runaway and was staying in the Carpinteria apartment, as well. The sisters were in foster care, sheriff’s officials said.

On April 18, the mother was arrested on the felony warrant while she was walking through a Ventura parking lot, according to authorities. The mother was identified as Elizabeth Figueroa, 35. Figueroa was on probation with terms that allowed searches, officials said.

When detectives conducted a probation search of Figueroa’s Carpinteria apartment in the 4800 block of Sandyland Road, they found the two missing sisters, according to authorities. A 7-month-old baby belonging to one of the girls was also in the apartment, officials said.

In addition, authorities allegedly found three unsecured, fully loaded handguns, a partially built semi-automatic handgun and ammunition “in areas accessible to the juveniles,” according to the sheriff’s agency. Suspected cocaine and drug paraphernalia were also present, authorities allege.

The sisters and the infant were taken into custody by Ventura County Child Protective Services personnel, officials said.

Evidence in the apartment indicated a man, identified as Christopher Welch, 44, was also living there, according to authorities. Welch was found in Ventura and arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm, the sheriff’s agency reported. He was booked into Santa Barbara County jail, where he made bail and was released, authorities said.

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Sheriff’s officials then served a search warrant at Welch’s Ojai residence in the 1800 block of Country Place. The block is east of Highway 33 and south of west Villanova Road.

There, they allegedly found 28 “assorted rifles, shotguns and handguns, high-capacity magazines and several silencers,” the sheriff’s agency said. Detectives confirmed several of the AR-15 and AK-47 style rifles “fit the criteria of being considered an ‘assault weapon.’” Authorities said some of the items found are generally illegal in California.

More than 15,000 rounds of ammunition were also reportedly found at the home. Authorities seized all of the firearms and ammunition.

On April 21, Welch was arrested on suspicion of possessing an assault weapon, possessing large-capacity magazines and possessing a silencer, the sheriff’s agency said. He was booked into Ventura County jail with bail set at $250,000. He posted bail and is scheduled to appear in court on July 9, authorities said.

Gretchen Wenner covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at gretchen.wenner@vcstar.com or 805-437-0270.