Palmdale homemade cannon suspect arraignment delayed, new details emerge

LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- New information has emerged in the case of an apparent homemade cannon found during a raid on a home near Palmdale.

The suspect, 54-year-old Robert Webster, was in court Monday.

Los Angeles County sheriff's narcotics investigators say when they raided Webster's Llano property last week, they seized a large amount of drugs, multiple rifles and handguns. They say they also seized evidence to suggest Webster was manufacturing explosives.

Detectives have not yet said whether a pipe sticking out of the ground on the property is in fact a homemade cannon.

One resident who spoke to Eyewitness News last week said that for several months, he had heard what sounded like loud booms every night fired from a cannon on Webster's property. He said he would also hear gunfire.

A woman who says she is a friend of Webster, but did not want to be identified, says the pipe is a homemade cannon. She said that the cannon has only been used to fire off soda cans and is not dangerous. She also said she did not know anything about the drugs that authorities said were found in his home.

"He's a good-hearted person. He's never done anything to hurt anybody," she said.

Webster's arraignment was postponed two weeks. He is being held on more than $600,000.