LAPD said they have detained a suspect in the break-in at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s residence

LOS ANGELES: Following a break-in at Mayor Karen Bass’s residence early on Sunday, police in Los Angeles detained a suspect, according to authorities.

The Los Angeles Police Department sent a statement on social media announcing that the suspect had been taken into custody soon after breaking a window to enter Getty House while it was inhabited. The official house of the mayor is located on Irving Boulevard to the west of downtown.

Her office sent a statement saying, “Mayor Bass and her family were not injured and are safe.” “The mayor is grateful to LAPD for responding and arresting the suspect.”

Bass said to reporters on Monday, “I’m OK. My family is doing well.”

The 29-year-old city resident, Ephraim Matthew Hunter, has been named by the LAPD as the culprit in the burglary probe. According to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department website, he was being detained on a $100,000 bond.

It is unclear from public records whether Hunter has an attorney who can represent him. In order to examine the investigation, prosecutors and LAPD detectives have been in communication, according to an email from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

Inquiries about the security measures at the house were not answered by Bass’s office or the LAPD.

According to the Los Angeles Times, which cited court documents, Hunter was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon after attacking a man in Massachusetts in 2015 and was sentenced to seven years in state prison.

According to the newspaper, Hunter’s mother, Josephine Duah, claimed to have spoken with her son on Monday from prison, telling her that he had entered the property because he thought someone was after him and didn’t know who owned it. She said that her son was supposed to start a drug treatment program on Monday but was unable to do so.

Before being chosen to become the 43rd mayor of the city in 2022, Bass was a Democratic member of Congress from 2011 to 2022. After previous Mayor Tom Bradley, who held the office from 1973 to 1993, the former state assembly leader is the first black person to occupy the job and the first woman as well.

The arrest brought to mind the October 2022 break-in at the San Francisco home of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during which her husband, Paul Pelosi, was assaulted with a hammer. David DePape was found guilty by a jury last year of assaulting a government official’s direct family member and attempting to abduct a federal official.

The incident made many wonder what kind of protection Congressmen and their families get. Since Nancy Pelosi was not at home when the incident occurred, the US Capitol Police did not have a camera watching the house.