Man broke into L.A. mayor’s home during a ‘short gap’ in LAPD security, chief says

The man who broke into Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ home on Sunday, making it to the second floor, arrived at a moment when there were no security officers on the premises, Interim Police Chief Dominic Choi said Tuesday.

Choi said the early morning 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.”

“There was a short gap there, and that’s when that incident occurred,” Choi said to reporters after Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting. “That gap has been remedied. We’ve created an overlap so it doesn’t happen again.”

Police said they arrested Ephraim Hunter, 29, on Sunday on suspicion of burglary after he allegedly broke into Getty House, the official mayor’s residence in Windsor Square. At around 6:40 a.m., authorities said, Hunter smashed a window and went inside, climbing the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms are located.

Two law enforcement sources, who were not authorized to discuss the case with the media, said that at one point, Bass was forced to hide in a safe area designed to protect against intruders.

Asked if the city’s security measures to protect the mayor fell short on Sunday, Choi said he doesn’t think so.

“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,” he said.

Choi said the suspect jumped over a fence and broke in through the back of the residence.

“To my understanding, this happened so quickly that even if somebody had been there, he probably still would have been able to access inside the residence,” he said.

Hunter, who lives in Los Angeles, was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in Massachusetts in 2015, serving several years in state prison, records show.

In a phone interview Monday, a woman who identified herself as Hunter’s mother said he had been struggling with drug addiction and may have been suffering from hallucinations when he allegedly broke into Getty House.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said charges would be filed against Hunter on Tuesday afternoon but declined to offer specifics. Hunter was scheduled to appear in a downtown courtroom but had not been brought in as of 2 p.m.

Choi said that in the past, a mix of armed and unarmed security has been assigned to patrol Getty House. The incident took place after the end of a shift handled by unarmed security, he said.

Choi did not answer reporters’ questions about the exact length of the security gap, calling it “very small.” He said the mayor’s security detail, which is made up of sworn LAPD officers, was “en route to the residence” when the incident occurred. The detail was scheduled to arrive at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Choi said.

Zach Seidl, spokesperson for the mayor, said he had no comment on the chief’s remarks. Bass has provided few details on the break-in so far, expressing gratitude to the LAPD and saying that she and her family are fine.

Investigators have not publicly revealed a motive for the break-in. On Monday, Bass declined to say whether she had been specifically targeted during the incident. Choi said he did not know if the suspect was familiar with the residence.

“Nothing in this person’s history suggests that this was a targeted or purposeful location,” he said.

Although cameras have been installed on the property, security personnel were not watching the feed and did not see the suspect come across the backyard, according to one law enforcement source, who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to discuss the case publicly.