The robber who “targeted” the home of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in an early weekend robbery is a career criminal previously convicted of brutal assault in Massachusetts.
Mayor Bass, his daughter, son-in-law, and grandson were sleeping inside the mayor’s residence at approximately 6:40 a.m. on April 21st when the rear glass door was broken into by Ephraim Matthew Hunter.
According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Hunter, 29, allegedly broke into the rear door, leaving it bloodied and causing between $5,000 and $10,000 worth of damage. It was announced on Tuesday.
Police responded to the scene and arrested Hunter within minutes of the glass breaking.
“We are extremely relieved that Mayor Karen Bass and her family are safe after this home invasion incident. The safety and security of all residents, including our public servants, continues to be our top priority in our community. ,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a press release.
“While we are grateful for their safety, we cannot tolerate violent intrusions like this. We are committed to ensuring that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice and held accountable for their actions. .”
Gascon said Hunter’s actions showed he knew Bass was inside the Getty House, the Los Angeles mayor’s official residence, at the time of the robbery.
“We believe he was targeting the mayor,” Gascón said. According to KABC.
Hunter took advantage of a security change to sneak into the premises.
Hunter was able to “quickly jump the fence and gain entry through the back of the house. And my understanding is that this happened so quickly that even if someone was there, he was probably still inside the mansion. They would have had access inside,” said Interim Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi. According to KTTV.
No further details were released about the hunter’s motive or whether he intended to harm the bus.
The Getty House is located on South Irving Boulevard in Windsor Square, approximately eight miles west of Los Angeles City Hall.
Hunter was arrested in 2015 after four men beat another man with a hammer during a violent early morning attack in Millis, Massachusetts, about 30 miles from Boston. According to CBS Boston.
He was sentenced to five to seven years in prison and then moved to Los Angeles, where he currently resides.
Hunter’s family disagreed with prosecutors, saying he had mental health problems and was evacuated because they believed he was in danger.
“My son is losing his mind,” Hunter’s mother Josephine Dua said. he told the Daily Mail. “He thought people were following him and ran into the house by chance. He didn’t try to break into the mayor’s house.
“Thank God he was just trying to get away from someone who he thought was trying to get him, and he wasn’t the kind of person to pull out a gun and shoot him.
“He didn’t know where he was or what he was doing. The truth is, he needs psychological help,” his mother added.
Hunter was charged with a felony count of first-degree burglary with a person present and a felony count of vandalism with damage or damage to property over $400.
He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
If convicted, Hunter could face up to 13 years and four months in prison.
He is scheduled to return to court May 6 for a scheduled preliminary hearing.
Sunday’s robbery was the second time Bass has been the victim of a home invasion in the past two years.
During the 2022 election campaign, two men stole weapons from her Baldwin Vista home, bypassing cash and electronics and stealing two handguns. According to the LA Times.
The two robbers, Patricio Muñoz and Juan Espinoza, pleaded no contest to charges of robbery and grand larceny and were sentenced to two years and 32 months in prison, respectively.
Crime in Los Angeles continues to rise, and Gascón’s crime-friendly approach to justice is increasing the burden on the California city.
The prosecutor’s office has enacted a series of criminal justice directives since taking office in 2020 that prohibit prosecutors from pursuing high-level punishments against gang members, a move that prohibits prosecutors from pursuing high-level punishments against gang members. It has attracted scorn from many.
