Eu Recovering; Police Seek Robber in Attack

California Secretary of State March Fong Eu continued to improve Wednesday, while Los Angeles police sought the robber who attacked her with an ax in her home and residents of the exclusive Los Angeles enclave where she lives worried about security.

“She’s improved,” Chief Deputy Secretary of State Anthony L. Miller said of Eu. “She had a good night. . . . She’s doing light paper work, but we don’t know when she’s going to get out of the hospital.”

Baskets of flowers, sent by well-wishers, including Gov. George Deukmejian, overflowed into the hallway outside the suite of rooms at Westside Hospital where Eu, 64, is recovering from facial cuts and bruises inflicted in the attack Monday night.

Investigators from the Police Department’s major crime section reinterviewed Eu Wednesday in hopes of obtaining a better description of her attacker, but a spokesman said the officers came away with only a general idea of his appearance.

Grabbed Hair

Part of Eu’s difficulty in describing the man was his method of attack, a staff member said. He approached her from behind as she sat “doing paper work” in her Fremont Place home around 10 p.m. Monday and grabbed her by the hair at the back of her head.

Controlling her with his grip, the robber struck her repeatedly with the blunt end of an ax, then kicked and dragged her around the house while demanding money and threatening to kill her if she did not stop screaming. The man fled, leaving Eu on the patio, after she found about $300 in an upstairs bedroom and gave it to him.

Chief Assistant Secretary of State Janece Long said Eu only got a general impression of the intruder as she turned her head from side to side during the attack. He is described as a black man, around 30, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds.

Police are investigating the possibility that the man they are seeking may have been involved in other so-called “hot prowls,” in which an intruder enters while the residents are home. According to Lt. Ed Henderson, head of the department’s major crimes section, there have been two or three hot prowls in Fremont Place since Sept. 1.

Pricked With Knife

In one case, at around 2 a.m. on Nov. 3, a resident was pricked with a knife by a prowler but did not require medical treatment. Henderson declined to identify the victim.

Since Sept. 1, the lieutenant said, there have been a dozen incidents, including hot prowls, burglaries and attempted burglaries, at Fremont Place, a gated, guarded community of 75 homes tucked behind high fences just off Wilshire Boulevard. Some residents woke up to find that their purses had been emptied during the night, Henderson said.

Police spokesman Lt. Dan Cooke said that over a wider area, including the Hancock Park neighborhood, the department’s Wilshire Division has counted six hot prowls since Oct. 20.

Security at Fremont Place is provided by Westec, whose officers control the front gate on the private street and are available for calls by residents who need assistance.

High fences surround the community, but Henderson said an intruder can climb over them.

Meeting Held

The Eu incident prompted a meeting of Fremont Place property owners Tuesday evening to discuss security. Eu’s staff was notified of the meeting, but no one from her office attended, an aide said.

But there is ironic evidence that the secretary of state and her husband, Henry, were concerned about security themselves. On the day she was attacked, the couple were having a burglar alarm system installed.