Flight logs shed only minor light on CHP arrest of Shasta man alleged to have illegal weapons, bunker
No charges have been filed in court against a man arrested by the California Highway Patrol in January. Flight logs obtained by Shasta Scout reveal little more than what the California Highway Patrol has already said by press release, that the search of a private property as part of an “illicit cannabis cultivation operation” revealed weapons and an underground bunker — leading to an arrest.
When Michael J. Kamfolt was arrested earlier this year, the story made headlines from the Los Angeles Times to the New York Post. Media coverage was driven by his connection to a Shasta politician, and striking photos of a cache of firearms and an underground room, released by the California Highway Patrol.
After being booked on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, and held in the Shasta County Jail for less than 24 hours, Kamfolt was released on $50,000 bail. But two months later, his high-profile arrest in Anderson on felony gun violations hasn’t yet resulted in charges by prosecutors.
Shasta Scout was unable to reach Kamfolt for comment for this story. County Supervisor Kevin Crye, who has referred to Kamfolt as a friend and supporter, said today that he had no comment.
CHP Northern Division officers arrested Kamfolt on Jan. 20, while executing a search warrant at his property, according to a widely-circulated press release from the agency on Jan. 22. That search allegedly revealed illegal weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition — including armor piercing bullets. Officers also discovered an underground room retrofitted with drainage and ventilation, which the release described as an “underground bunker.”
Flight logs obtained last week through a public records request provided only minimal additional information, showing that CHP deployed a helicopter over Kamfolt’s Dersch Road property in Anderson twice on Jan. 9 and then again on Jan. 20, in the hours before his arrest was documented later that day.
The logs for both of the earlier flights describe the reason for the air surveillance as “reconnaissance for remote high risk warrant,” saying the goal was to “locate active [marijuana] grow, barriers and property layout.” During the first flight, CPH obtained photos of Kamfolt’s property and during the second, video. The use of an aircraft was justified, the logs say, because using one didn’t require any extra flight time due to the surveillance being tacked on to other missions.
On Jan. 20, the day of Kamfolt’s arrest, the flight logs describe the flight mission as “high risk warrant service,” appearing to indicate that the aircraft was used as part of CHP’s search on Kamfolt’s property. The log says the use was authorized because an investigative service unit was serving a warrant “at a residence with multiple firearms,” that could pose a risk for ground personnel, including the possibility of a medical evacuation. The warrant was served without incident, the log notes.
CHP has alleged both in arrest filings and by press release that several firearms that are illegal in California were found on Kamfolt’s property. The specific arrest charges against Kamfolt in January included possession of a machine gun, converting a firearm into a machine gun, possession of an altered firearm serial number, possession of a stolen gun, and manufacturing a ghost gun, among others.
CHP titled its press release on Kamfolt’s arrest, “illicit cannabis cultivation operation,” but there’s no indication so far that cannabis was found on the property. The press release with photos of items seized during the search of his property does not document pictures of marijuana and Kamfolt’s arrest charges do not include any related to cannabis.
In response to a request for comment today, a CHP spokesperson said that more will become clear when the law enforcement agency completes its investigatory report, something which is expected to occur in the next few weeks. He added that information released prematurely might not be fully accurate, and emphasized that suspects are innocent until proven guilty.
Where are search warrant documents?
A properly executed search warrant, signed by a judge, is a legally required protection under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which addresses rights related to searches of citizens’ private spaces. California law requires law enforcement officers to return forms associated with executed warrants to the courts within 10 days.
As of late last week, clerks at the Shasta County Superior Court were unable to locate any record that CHP had returned warrant documents to the court. Meanwhile, staff from CHP and the DA’s Office have offered contradictory statements related to those documents.
A CHP Northern Division officer said last Thursday that the warrant form in Kamfolt’s case has been sealed and is with the Shasta County District Attorney’s office, along with CHP’s recommendation for charges, as the law enforcement agency works to finalize a final report.
But as of Friday, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said her agency “has not received the case involving Michael Kamfolt and has no information to provide regarding this case at this time.”
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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I am Mr. Kamfolt’s attorney and am available for comment.
Unfortunately, a number of statements the California Highway Patrol has provided to the press are inaccurate. For example, a CHP Northern Division officer reportedly stated last Thursday that the warrant form in Mr. Kamfolt’s case had been sealed and was with the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office. That claim is false.
I have a copy of the warrant. While the affidavit and supporting documents were intentionally excluded from the copy provided, the warrant itself is plainly not sealed. In fact, the judge signed the warrant on January 16, 2026, and expressly ordered that it not be sealed.
CHP has also publicly claimed that this case involved a “large cannabis grow.” That claim is equally misleading. No cannabis was found, no equipment for growing or cultivating cannabis was discovered, and Mr. Kamfolt was not arrested on any cannabis-related charges.
I am also in possession of a police report prepared by the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Team regarding this case, which contains suspect information and raises serious constitutional concerns about law enforcement conduct during this investigation.
For a case with these kinds of irregularities and potential constitutional violations to be circulating in national news coverage is deeply problematic and raises serious questions about the accuracy of the narrative being presented to the public.
Thank you Mr. Dondi. We’ve reached out by email.
Does Mr. Dondi have a theory regarding why CHP (our state police) didn’t involve the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office? I’m curious whether or not his theory (if he has one) maps onto *my* theory.
Clearly crimes have been committed. He had a fully auto machine gun and ghost guns. My guess is they are waiting to file because the investigation isn’t over. When they file Kamfolt’s attorney will get the discovery which would burn any additional arrests. If I were the militia I would be nervous.
Everyone who owns guns in Shasta County likely also has ghost guns, large capacity magazines, bullet button delete, shortened stocks, bump stocks (tho those are inefficient) etc etc. No one is nervous. Absolutely no one. Well worth the minimal risk to have the maximum firepower.
Cool story, bro.
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But something to consider: “Everyone who owns guns in Shasta County” is not the same cohort as you and your paranoid, gun-humper buddies—it’s not a 1:1 correlation. Plenty of gun owners don’t feel the need for “maximum firepower’ and don’t fantasize about getting to turn their weapons on fellow citizens who are lightly armed or unarmed. It’s only a fringe group of you proto-fascist sick units who think like that.
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As for “minimal risk,” possession of some of what you claim to own can be prosecuted as a felony, with sentences of years in state prison. If that’s a minimal risk in your mind, you have some weird standards of risk. But maybe prison—where the only moral code is “might makes right”—appeals to you. Wouldn’t surprise anyone.
No one paranoid here. All of these things are legal in other places, so we get to have them too. The government and beta dudes don’t dictate the things I own.
Ooooh, beta dudes. Yep, name calling is a sure sign of a winning argument.
What I like is how Nate tries to normalize the ghost guns like everybody does it.
It’s actually not normal, but he’s going to pretend like it is.
“possession of a machine gun, converting a firearm into a machine gun, possession of an altered firearm serial number, possession of a stolen gun, and manufacturing a ghost gun, among others. “. These things are either against the law or they are not against the law.
So no weed and a ghost gun that probably has a magazine larger than 5 rounds? They needed airplanes and helicopters for this? Not exactly Al Capone.
Apparently the FBI will be inquiring with the Chief Prosecutors Office as to #WTF.