La Jolla resident Ernest Rady, founder of American Assets financial services and real estate firm and chairman of Insurance of the West in San Diego, was taken to a hospital after a suspect entered his Prestwick Drive home Feb. 6 and used a stun gun on him, according to a police report.
The suspect knocked on the residents’ door around 4:30 p.m. under the pretext that he had a document for the victim’s wife, Evelyn Rady, to sign, said Capt. Mary Cornicelli with the San Diego Police Department’s Robbery Division. The suspect then used a handgun to demand money from Evelyn Rady and the maid. He immobilized the two by binding them with duct tape, and when Ernest Rady returned home, the suspect used a stun gun against him and duct-taped him as well.
The suspect spent several hours in the house looking for money, and used an earpiece device, likely a Bluetooth, to communicate with someone outside, probably on a cell phone, Cornicelli said. He finally left on foot after taking a small amount of cash.
Ernest Rady was not seriously injured, and no other occupants of the home were hurt, Cornicelli said.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic or Middle Eastern male, between 5-foot-8 and 6-foot-2, with dark skin and unshaven. He is of normal to muscular build, and was wearing a black blazer and shirt, tan pants, black shoes, and had two gold earrings. He was likely wearing a black wig, Cornicelli said.
Rady is well-known throughout San Diego as a philanthropist, donating $30 million in 2003 to University of California, San Diego’s school of management and $60 million in 2006 to Children’s Hospital and health center, which is named in his honor.
District 1 City Councilman and Council President Scott Peters will hold a community forum on public safety Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m., at the La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St.
Lt. Brian Ahern from SDPD’s Northern Division will join Peters in answering questions about the break-in and offering safety tips, according to Pam Hardy, Peters’ communications director.