LA JOLLA –
It's the type of robbery that grabs the region's attention.
Ernest Rady donated $60‚million to Children's Hospital and helped
found UCSD's Rady School of Management.
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In a well-planned takeover of a billionaire philanthropist's La Jolla home, one victim is shocked with a Taser and his wife tied up, along with a housekeeper. For five hours, with the captives not knowing if they would be kidnapped or killed, the intruder methodically rummages through the house, looking for a safe and grabbing anything of value.
“All La Jolla is very concerned,” said City Council President Scott Peters, whose district includes the seaside neighborhood. “This shocked everybody.”
Yesterday, San Diego police detectives scanned cell phone records, viewed surveillance camera tapes and conducted background checks on some who may know Ernest and Evelyn Rady a day after the brazen Tuesday afternoon attack.
Crime-scene investigators also examined the multimillion-dollar house, overlooking La Jolla Shores, seeking anything that could lead to the robber.
“We are hoping the gunman left something behind that will help us catch him,” police Capt. Mary Cornicelli said.
Cornicelli described the robbery as unusual because of the time spent in the residence and the planning that went into the crime.
JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune
An intruder held Ernest and Evelyn Rady captive along with their housekeeper Tuesday in the Radys' home, which overlooks La Jolla Shores.
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“There was a lot of preparation and sophistication involved,” she said. “Most of these type of crimes are over very quickly. The robbers are in and out.”
There have been 30 home robberies in San Diego the past three months. None of the victims is as well-known as the Radys.
Ernest Rady, a 69-year-old financial services and real estate magnate, made a $60 million donation last year to Children's Hospital, which then took on his name. He helped found the Rady School of Management at the University of California San Diego in 2004 with a $30 million donation.
On Tuesday, the robber posed as someone delivering documents to get Evelyn Rady to open the front door. The man, hiding part of his face with a scarf, also wore a wig and white latex gloves when he burst into the house about 4 p.m. and threatened her with a Taser.
Evelyn Rady and a housekeeper were tied up in an upstairs bedroom. Two hours later, Ernest Rady walked in on the robbery and was subdued with the stun gun, then tied up.
Evelyn Rady, 66, freed herself and called 911 shortly before 10 p.m., saying the robber had left moments before, police said. Rady said she and her husband were still freeing themselves from their bindings. Paramedics later took Ernest Rady to a hospital, where he was treated for bruises and Taser barbs. The women were unhurt.
“He, his wife and the housekeeper are doing as well as can be expected after this type of ordeal,” Cornicelli said.
Evelyn Rady told police the intruder used a cellular phone and may have been talking to accomplices outside, but no one else was seen. The robber repeatedly asked his victims for cash, and got away with an unspecified – but not large – amount.
The robber was described yesterday as Latino or Middle Eastern, in his late 30s or early 40s and about 6 feet 2 inches tall with a muscular build. He was unshaven, with about a five-day beard, and wore two gold earrings. Besides the gloves, the man wore a shiny black wig, a dark shirt, light-colored pants and black shoes. Besides the Taser, he also had a gun.
The crime shocked residents of La Jolla, where the violent-crime rate last year was 2.42 per 1,000 residents – less than half the citywide rate – and where there were only six armed robberies. The city had 790.
“This is scary,” neighbor Sara Baker said. “This is America. “We need more lighting, more police, more security here.”
Baker said her home, which is across the street from the Radys', was burglarized about two years ago.
Another neighbor said he was getting a gun.
Peters scheduled a community forum at the La Jolla Recreation Center on Feb. 15 to discuss the robbery with police, residents and others.
Cornicelli said the robber may have been familiar with the phone and doorbell system at the home, in which the phone rings when someone is at the front door.
“Mrs. Rady answered her phone and was told by a man at the door that he had documents for her to sign,” Cornicelli said. “She answered the door, and the man had a clipboard and an envelope with the Rady name and address on it. He asked her to sign the envelope. After she did so, he pulled a Taser gun from behind his pants and barged into the house.”
The Radys remained in seclusion yesterday, away from home. A private security guard stood in the driveway.
Staff writers Greg Gross and Pauline Repard contributed to this report.
