Background: An image from outside Ty Warner’s residence on May 21, 2025 (Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office). Inset: Russell Maxwell Phay (Siskiyou Sheriff’s Office).
A former combatant who once claimed he was “trained to eliminate” adversaries allegedly entrenched himself within the California estate of the Beanie Babies CEO.
After a standoff with law enforcement, Russell Maxwell Phay, 43, was apprehended by officials on May 21, as stated in a report from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities reported that deputies reacted to an emergency call from the Montecito residence of the reclusive billionaire Ty Warner, 80, the head of Beanie Babies. Upon their arrival, deputies discovered a severely injured woman inside the residence and “determined that all other household members had escaped.”
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According to police, Phay was “barricaded in an upstairs restroom.”
Police said that after a crisis intervention-trained deputy attempted to talk Phay out of the bathroom, the suspect attempted to escape out of the room’s second-story window. He was caught outside the home with the help of a K-9 team and taken into custody.
Local NBC affiliate KSBW reported that the female victim, whom Law&Crime is not naming, is a 60-year old financial services expert “who once worked for Warner’s hotels division.” In addition to his Beanie Babies empire, Warner also owns several high-end properties. According to a criminal complaint, the woman was beaten to the point that she was “comatose due to brain injury,” allegedly at the hands of Phay. Warner was unharmed.
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The Santa Barbara Independent reported that Phay allegedly broke into Warner’s residence and claimed that it was his home, demanding that everyone inside leave. Phay, a veteran of the U.S. Army, was featured in a 2014 article in the San Francisco Chronicle focused on a court that specialized in veterans’ issues. In that article, Phay stated, “I am fully trained for combat. I have been trained to eliminate you. I know that sounds crazy, but it is true.”
According to the Santa Barbara Independent, Phay had several brushes with the law, including an attack on his wife when she attempted to leave him and take their child with her. Local ABC affiliate KEYT had more information on Phay’s criminal history, including a 2017 arrest in California’s Siskiyou County for assault and battery. He was also named in a complaint in 2024 after allegedly threatening a couple in Arroyo Grande.
Phay is currently being held in jail on $1 million bond after being charged with attempted murder, burglary, kidnapping, assault, and resisting a peace officer.
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