More Details Emerge From Weekend Break-In of L.A. Mayor’s House

More details in the Sunday break-in of a criminal into the home of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass were unveiled on Tuesday and Wednesday, showing that she herself had been targeted by the criminal who broke in, and that LAPD security teams had been between shifts when the break-in occurred.

Before Tuesday, the only details of the case were those released by the LAPD and Mayor Bass late on Sunday. According to the LAPD, 29-year-old Ephraim Hunter broke in the Mayor’s official residence, Getty House, at around 6:40 A.M. Bass, as well as several family members, were inside when Hunter broke the window. Going in, he made it to the second floor, causing Bass to hide in a designated area for such events. However, by this time, the LAPD arrived and proceeded to arrest Hunter.

Hunter was quickly booked for suspicion of burglary, with more charges likely. Police also found out that Hunter had previously been booked for 7 years back in 2015 outside of Boston for taking a man with a group of other people and proceeding to beat him with a hammer.

However, during press conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday, District Attorney George Gascon and interim LAPD Police Chief Dominic Choi released new details on the break in.

According to Gascon, Hunter used his entire body to break the window at 6:40 A.M. This caused him to bleed, leaving a blood trail around the house and many doorknobs to be covered with blood. He also stated that he didn’t know why he was there and called out an anonymous persons name. However, Gascon then clarified that Hunter knew that this was the Mayor’s home and that he was looking for Bass.

“There were actions while he was inside the property that are consistent with the fact that he knew that this was the mayor’s home, and that he was looking for her,” said Gascon.

Choi also said that the break-in occurred between a small window when the overnight LAPD security team had left and that a new LAPD security team was to arrive at Getty House at 7 A.M.

“The break-in took place during a shift change, when the officers that are there overnight leave to head back to their station and the oncoming shift comes on,” explained Choi. “There was a short gap there, and that’s when that incident occurred. That gap has been remedied. We’ve created an overlap so it doesn’t happen again.

“I don’t know if one officer there could have physically stopped him or seen him. The Getty House, as you know, is a very large property.”

More details on the break-in

The LAPD also confirmed that the suspect had gotten close to Bass, who was forced to hide in a designated safe area. Also under threat at the time were some of Bass’ relatives in the house at the time: her daughter, her son-in-law and her newborn grandchild.

The Mayor’s office added little, only giving a brief statement saying that Bass did not know Hunter prior to the break-in.

During his initial court appearance, Hunter pled not guilty to the burglary and vandalism charges. His defense said that he was under the use of unspecified drugs at the time, did not know where he was, and was delusional at the time of the robbery. Superior Court Judge Kimberley Baker Guillemet, rather than giving him bail, decided to hold him until his next court appearance on May 6th, highlighting the danger Hunter still posed.

Legal and security experts told the Globe on Wednesday that, despite Hunter saying he was not in the right frame of mind at the time, he will likely be found guilty.

“You just don’t accidently break into the Mayor’s house,” explained Frank Ma, a former policeman and security consultant in San Francisco, to the Globe. “Like the DA’s office said, it was pretty obvious that this was targeted, so those defending him will have a real hard time with this one.”

“Also upsetting was the security gap they revealed. This is a well-to-do neighborhood in L.A., but even then this is a high profile person. You want security teams to not leave any gaps there, and they did. Even if they didn’t see the break in. They would have been alerted, and instead of in a car blocks away, they could have rushed right in and gotten to them sooner. So hopefully they learned from this.

“But yeah, from cases like this in the past, you can tell that everyone knows that he is going to go down for this one.”

Hunter is due back in court on May 6th.