According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, a woman is in a coma after being viciously injured during a break-in Wednesday at Beanie Babies millionaire Ty Warner’s California residence.
Russell Maxwell Phay, 42, of Nevada, was arrested last week for allegedly breaking into a Montecito residence, according to a statement from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office claims that on May 21, Phay “violently” beat a woman and then trapped himself in an upstairs bathroom.
A criminal complaint identifies the victim as “L. Malek-Aslanian” and claims she is “comatose due to brain injury” as a result of the assault. The homeowner was identified in the lawsuit as “T. Warner.”
Amber Frost, a communications specialist for the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, told NBC News that “T. Warner” is Ty Warner.
Warner’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Phay’s relatives and lawyers did not reply to demands for comment.
Requests for comment were not returned by the victim’s relatives, Linda Malek-Aslanian, who were recognized through public documents and social media.
Malek-Aslanian’s LinkedIn page describes her as a financial services executive from New York. Authorities did not elaborate on why she was visiting Warner’s residence.
According to Salinas-based NBC affiliate KSBW, she formerly worked for Warner’s hotel division. She is described as “particularly vulnerable” in the complaint, but no other information is provided.
According to KSBY, Warner, who is known for his reclusiveness, was at home during the incident but was unharmed.
Deputies arrived to find the victim suffering from “severe injuries outside the residence,” according to a sheriff’s office news release. She was promptly taken to the hospital.
Phay had shut himself inside the house. According to the sheriff’s office, deputies were originally unsure whether Phay had held anyone hostage and requested assistance from a special enforcement team and a crisis negotiation team.
After determining that there were no other occupants in the house, deputies attempted to persuade Phay to exit the restroom. The sheriff’s office stated that Phay “attempted to flee by climbing out of a second-story bathroom window” and jumping to the ground below. He was eventually caught.
He was accused with attempted murder, burglary, kidnapping, and assault, according to the complaint. He is being jailed on $100,000 bond, and it is unclear whether he has hired an attorney.
Phay was profiled in a 2014 San Francisco Chronicle piece on a special court for war veterans. According to the story, Phay was accused of stalking and threatening his wife when she traveled to Colorado with their son. KSBW also stated that Phay was charged with violence and assault in 2018, but the case was dropped last year.
In a separate instance in Mt. Shasta, some 600 miles north of Montecito, Phay was detained after reportedly climbing aboard a transit bus in 2017 and attacking passengers, according to police records. One woman informed a responding officer that he punched her several times with a clinched fist and yanked her hair after claiming that his tools had been taken.
Another victim, an older woman, reported that he struck her on the right face.
“He acted like a mad man and was talking about someone stealing his tools, but non[e] of knew anything about his tools,” according to reports.
According to the records, a man who had been working with Phay at nearby Tesla charging stations informed investigators that Phay had two tool bags taken. When the guy noticed a bus approaching, he advised that Phay “check with the bus to see if anyone had seen his tools.” He didn’t expect Phay to get on the bus, let alone start swinging at the women.
