The man suspected of breaking a window and breaking into the home of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Sunday morning had previously been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder in Massachusetts, court records show.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, 29-year-old Ephraim Hunter allegedly broke into the Getty House in Windsor Square at 6:40 a.m. while Bass and several of her relatives were home. Hunter was arrested without incident, according to police, who said no one was hurt and nothing was stolen.
The 29-year-old LA resident was booked on suspicion of theft on Sunday afternoon, police said. A case has not yet been presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the case is being investigated by the LAPD’s Specialized Robbery-Homicide Division.
In a phone interview Monday, a woman identifying herself as Hunter’s mother said he struggled with drug addiction and was possibly suffering from hallucinations when he allegedly broke into the mayor’s residence.
For the record:
April 22, 2024 at 4:17 pmIn an earlier version of this article, Josephine Dua’s last name was spelled Dua.
Josephine Dua said Hunter called her from jail Monday morning and claimed he was running away from someone “trying to shoot” and that he had no idea whose house he had broken into.
“He didn’t know it at all,” Dua said. “He was just running… he thought someone was following him and he broke some fences and he went into the house… I wonder if it would have been a relief to him mentally if he had called the police saw.”
Dua said her son told her he got off a bus near the Getty House because he feared someone was coming after him with a gun.
Exterior view of the Getty House in Los Angeles.
(Alan J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Investigators have not discussed a motive for the burglary. Two law enforcement sources not authorized to discuss the open case with the media said Hunter reached the second floor of the home, forcing Bass to hide in a secure area to protect him from the intruders, similar to a panic room. are equal.
According to one of the sources, detectives are planning to present charges of first-degree theft to prosecutors, and a criminal charge is expected to be filed on Tuesday. It was not clear whether Hunter had hired a lawyer or was assigned one.
A review of court records shows Hunter is originally from Massachusetts, where he was previously convicted of a violent crime.
In 2015, prosecutors in Norfolk County, Mass., charged that Hunter was one of four men who killed a man with a hammer and ice picks inside a van in Millis, Mass., about 30 miles from Boston, according to a news release. Was beaten with a brush. release. The victim in that case was rendered unconscious and was taken by helicopter to a Boston hospital.
According to a Millis Police Department report, Hunter and two other men pulled the victim into a van, where officers found the man “unconscious, wearing no pants, in the back of the car, with blood on his left leg and blood on his head.” Found. ,
Records show Hunter was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to seven years in state prison.
Dua said her son claimed he was innocent of the attack and refused to plead. She said that although Hunter was present for the attack, he did not participate in it.
After being released from state prison in Massachusetts, Dua said, he urged Hunter to start over elsewhere. His brother lived in Los Angeles, he said, so he moved west. Hunter’s brother did not immediately respond to a note left at his mid-city apartment seeking comment.
Dua said his son has a job and is doing well, though he declined to give specific details. However, in the last few weeks, he said he has become erratic. She said he was “smoking” drugs, although she didn’t know what. He was supposed to enter a treatment clinic on Monday, he said, but he never arrived.
“Suddenly he started calling me and told me that someone was following him. I go, what are you talking about? …He needs some help, please someone help him, he is losing his mind,” Dua said, her voice brimming with emotion.
Dua described her son as “a very kind and loving person” whose life was marred by drug use and time spent in prison. He repeatedly stressed that his son had no idea he had entered the mayor’s home.
“He doesn’t know anything there. …He was going there because he was scared,” she said.
Investigators believe Hunter was intoxicated at the time of the incident, according to a law enforcement source who is not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case.
Appearing at a press conference Monday on his proposed city budget, Bass was asked repeatedly for his message on public safety, as he has now experienced The house was burglarized twice in a three-year period.
“First of all let me just say that I am fine. My family is good. And we are going to do everything we can to keep Angelenos safe,” the mayor said. “I believe our budget makes an important contribution and investment toward keeping Angelenos safe.”
Bass thanked the LAPD and said the investigation is still ongoing. He declined to comment further.
When asked by a Times reporter if he thought the break-in suspect was specifically targeting him, Bass said: “I wouldn’t answer that.”
On Sunday, his office released a brief account of what happened.
“This morning at approximately 6:40 a.m., an intruder broke into the Getty House through a window. Mayor Bass and his family were not injured and are safe,” Deputy Mayor for Communications Zach Seidel said in a statement.
An LAPD source, not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the Getty House is now under a 24-hour security operation, with police maintaining a visible presence in the area.
Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed reporting.
