FBI raids Las Vegas ‘Graffiti Mansion,’ connected to Jake Paul investigation

LAS VEGAS (FOX5/AP) — FBI Las Vegas confirmed that a federal search warrant was served on a home in Las Vegas Wednesday morning.

Law enforcement with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, SWAT and FBI were seen at the home Wednesday morning, located near Buffalo Drive and Sahara Avenue. YouTuber Arman Izadi lives in the home.

“The FBI executed a federal search warrant in connection with an ongoing investigation,” FBI officials said. “No further information can be released at this time.”

LVMPD didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to TMZ, the Las Vegas investigation is connected to an FBI investigation at YouTube star Jake Paul’s home in Calabasas. Izadi and Paul are friends.

Paul’s attorney Richard Schonfeld said Paul was out of state at the time the warrant was served. 

“We understand that a search warrant was executed at Jake’s Calabasas home this morning while Jake was out-of-state,” Schonfeld said in an email. “We are still gathering information and will cooperate with the investigation.”

“Well I had a rough morning but we’re going to try to finish the day right over here,” said Izadi on his Instagram story Wednesday. He has more than one million followers.

“I get it you guys are really concerned about the raid that went down at my house. Meanwhile we’ve got a mansion to paint. The Barbies are here and we’ve got [expletive] work to do,” he said in the video. 

The Instagram story then shows about one dozen women shaking spray paint cans. 

“Today was just Barbie Mansion. It was going to be our final shoot for painting the house pink,” said Richard Ochoa, who helps run events at the house. He said they run a legitimate company and rent the house through Airbnb. 

Ochoa was there when FBI agents showed up at their door.

“They got here about 6 a.m. this morning. We opened the gate to let them come in. They woke the staff with a couple of flash bangs which was pretty exciting, P.A. systems … They did a search of the property, looking for a certain person that resides in Southern California,” Ochoa said, referencing Paul. 

The investigation is linked to charges against the two in Arizona. In May, investigators charged Paul, Izadi and another man for looting at Scottsdale Fashion Square after a protest.

But Izadi said on instagram, “A lot of people talking trash. A lot of people making up things online today. I’m not going to get into any details other than — all they wanted to know about was Arizona.”

Video from local television news helicopters showed agents gathering several rifles from the sprawling property with a boxing ring and hot tub in the backyard that appears in many of Paul’s recent YouTube videos.

A SWAT team initially entered the property, Eimiller said. No arrests were made.

Police in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Wednesday said they were dismissing charges of criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly there against Paul and two others “so that a federal criminal investigation can be completed,” but that they may be refiled later.

Paul had been charged there when he appeared on video in June inside a Scottsdale mall that a big crowd of people had broken into, looting stores.

Paul said in a subsequent YouTube video that he had only been looking for people protesting the death of George Floyd, and he did not take part in any of the destruction.

Paul, 23, has over 20 million followers on his YouTube channel, which features stunts, pranks, stories from his personal life, and more recently music videos

He rose to fame on the short video app Vine and spent two years as an actor on the Disney Channel show “Bizaardvark.” His older brother, Logan Paul, has a similar YouTube channel with even more followers.

Neighbors have complained to media outlets for several years about the stunts Jake Paul has pulled on the property for his YouTube channel.

Last month, Calabasas Mayor Alicia Weintraub harshly criticized him after video emerged of dozens of people at a party at his home amid the coronavirus outbreak, with no apparent masks or social distancing.

Izadi didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. FBI Las Vegas said they could not give information because it is an ongoing investigation. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.