(IntegrityTimes.com) – On April 15, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass gave her State of the City address, during which she discussed her efforts to curb crime and called on the wealthy to help solve the homelessness crisis. Less than a week later, 29-year-old Ephraim Hunter was arrested for burglary after he smashed a glass door and entered Getty House, the official residence of the mayor. Hunter caused between $5,000 and $10,000 in damages as he prowled through the house in the early morning hours of April 21, leaving a bloody trail everywhere he walked after injuring himself when he broke the door.
Mayor Bass and three family members were inside the home at the time of the break-in. Following the incident, her office released a short statement to let the public know that no one in her family was injured and that she was “grateful to LAPD for responding and arresting the suspect.” Hunter was previously imprisoned for seven years in Massachusetts for his role in the kidnapping and attempted murder of a man in Norfolk County. Hunter’s mother, Josephine Duah, said that her son had been suffering from mental issues since returning to California and getting back on drugs. She claimed that he thought someone was chasing him and that he “ran into that house randomly.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced on April 23 that he was formerly charging Hunter with two felonies, one for residential burglary while a person was present, and another for vandalism. Hunter pleaded not guilty to both charges and will have a preliminary hearing on May 6. If convicted, he could spend 13 years and four months behind bars.
Bass became mayor of the nation’s second-largest city in 2023, but this is not the first time she has been the victim of burglary. In September 2022, Bass’s home in Baldwin Vista was burglarized and two .38-caliber revolvers were stolen. She was not home at the time.
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