Evening star., 1961-08-27
EMBASSY
Costa Ricon ENJOYS Wife
Fiqhts Off Her AssoiIont
Continued From First Page

she told the intruder she had
no money with her, that it was
upstairs.
Then. police said, she made
a sudden grab for a telephone
and tried to dali 20" for op-
orator. However, the intruder
ran to her side, ripped the tel
ephone out by the wires and
struck Mrs. EScalante.
The brunei wife of the diplo-
mat grabbed the phone and
struck the intruder on the
head. breaking the receiver in
hail. The intruder again
threatened the two women and
ordered them upstairs.
Takes $1,000 in Jewelry
1tThere, police said, the in
Guder forced Mrs. Escalante
to hand over between $1,000
and $4,000 worth of jewelry-
rings, pendants and necklaces
that had been in a dresser
drawer. He forced Mrs. Esca-
Iante to open the drawer by
threatening to cut the women's
Glroats. He also took $50 IN
cash from Mrs. Escalante and
the purse of Mrs. McCurdy,
containing $25.
= Police said the intruder then
forced the two women into a
closet, barricaded it with a
piece of furniture and warned
them to remain quiet. After
% minutes in the closet, the
terrified women ventured out
and called police from another
phone.
Police theorized that the in
truder had been hiding in the
embassy for some time because
i was raining at the time of
the robbery and the intruder
vas in dry clothes. Mrs. ES-
oalante and her sister described
uim as a colored man, between
90 and 80 years old, 6 feet l
inch tall, wearing dark trou-
Sers and a light-colored sport
Shirt.
i. All hospitals in the Wash
mgton area are being checked
q case the intruder needs
treatment as a result Of the
blow Mrs. Escalante struck
him with the telephone.
: Inspector Albert Embrey said
Rolice are making an all-out
effort to apprehend the in
p'uder. In addition, the FBI
entered the case and had a
squad Of agents checking the
embassy for fingerprints and
other evidence.
Two robbery squad detectives
later showed a dozen pictures
from. the rogue's gallery to the
two women, but they were I'M
able to identify any as their
aSsailant.
In addition the Identification
bureau took fingerprints of the
women to match with any prints
that might be found on the tel
ephone or other parts of the
home.
80 -Four Servants Asleep
There were four servants in
theshouse when the robbery oc-
CURED, all asleep, in ground
floor quarters Of the three story
red-bfick, leaf-coVered build
ing.
They are Chandu Nair,
an East Indian chauffeur for
the embassy; two maids, Leo
cafia Ruge and Natalia Nnuja,
and a butler, Herminie Sierra.
Mr.. Escalante left Friday on
a trip to Costa Rica and was
expected to return upon hear
ing of the assault.
The two women were exam
ined by DR.. Michael Homa of
Georgetown University Hospi-
tai.
Mr.. Rusk went to the en-
basSy in his chauffeur driven
accompanied by a State De-
partn1ent security agent, Frank
Tully. He was met at the curb
by Robert Woodward, Assistant
Secretary of State for Inter-
American Affairs, and at the
door by Juan Hernandez, coun-
selor of the embassy.
Mr.. Hernandez said Mrs. Es-
calante suffered a slight cut on
her hand in the scuffle with
the intruder. Mrs. McCurdy,
who lives in Stone Mountain,
Ga, and was visiting her sis
ter, was under sedation late
yesterday and could not be in
,stervieWed by police. She was
re1peeted to return home today.
NTofce who went back to the
embassy to talk to the women
yesterday afternoon were un-
able to interview either of them
about the incident, Mr.. Her
nandez said, because they we're
asleep.
AS Mr.. Rusk left the embassy,
Mr.. Woodward said in Spanish
to Mrs. Escalante. If there's
anything I can do I'd appreciate
knowing" He is an old friend
of the family, which has been
in the United States about
three years. The Secretary of
State also offered all necessary
assistance to Mrs. Escalante,
according to Mr.. Hernandez.
The police theory is that the
intruder got into the embassy
by way of an unlocked rear
door and lay in wait for the
guests of the sisters to leave.
He escaped out the back door
onto Phelps street, police be-
lieve.