A man is in custody after authorities say he broke into the California home of Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner and “violently” attacked a woman inside, leaving her in a coma.

The suspect, 43-year-old Russell Maxwell Phay, was apprehended Wednesday, May 21 after authorities caught him jumping down from a second-story window in Warner’s home, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. 

On May 21, at approximately 4:31 p.m., authorities received a report about a possible home invasion or vehicle theft in progress at Warner’s Montecito mansion, located in the 1000-block of Fairway Road. 

They arrived to find a woman, identified by NBC News as Linda Malek-Aslanian, outside the home. According to the sheriff’s office, she had been “violently” attacked and was suffering from “severe injuries.”

Deputies learned that the suspect was still inside the residence, but they were initially unsure whether anyone else was inside the home and launched a hostage recovery response, complete with Bearcat armored rescue vehicles. After establishing that no hostages were still inside, deputies learned that the suspect had barricaded himself in an upstairs bedroom. 

They tried to talk him out of the bathroom, but Phay, a resident of Henderson, Nevada, allegedly attempted to flee by “climbing out of a second story bathroom window” instead.

“He jumped to the ground where he was apprehended by deputies and a Sheriff’s K-9,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Although the investigation remains ongoing, investigators do not believe Phay knew the victim. According to the Santa Barbara Independent, Phay reportedly claimed the house belonged to him and demanded everyone to get out.

Phay is now facing charges of first degree attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, residential burglary with a person present, kidnapping, assault with a force likely to produce great bodily injury, and resisting or delaying a peace officer, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office. He will also be charged with special allegations for “personally inflicting great bodily injury resulting in a coma.”

Ty Warner left uninjured in attack

Warner, 80, who rose to fame after introducing the popular plush Beanie Babies to the market in the 1990s, was at the home at the time of the break-in, but was not injured, according to a criminal compliant. Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch added in a separate statement to People, “He was able to escape and contact authorities.”

Although Warner’s relationship to the victim was not clear, KSBW described Malek-Aslanian as a 60-year-old financial services expert who once worked for Warner’s hotels division.

Prosecutors have said she was left “comatose due to a brain injury.”

It isn’t the first time Phay has found himself in trouble with the law. A 2014 column in the SF Gate described the 43-year-old as a participant in a Veterans Treatment Court, described by the Department of Justice as a program that helps to provide services to “veterans involved in the justice system.”

At the time, Phay, described by SF Gate as a “trained infantry combat soldier” specializing in weapons, had been arrested for following his estranged wife to Colorado and threatening her before finding his way into the military court. 

“They’ve recognized that I am salvageable,” Phay told the outlet. “I need treatment, and I’ve gotten treatment. I feel like people here understand the brotherhood.”

Phay was also charged with assault and battery in 2018, but the case was later dismissed, KSBW reports. 

Phay is currently being held on $1 million bail, prosecutors said.