Squatter ransack, burglarize indie filmmaker's Santa Monica home

An award-winning independent filmmaker and cinematographer recently returned to his Santa Monica home after a work trip to find his home in tatters after squatters set up camp and burglarized his property.  

Fidel Ruiz Healy had been in New York for a week and a half long work project when he came back on Sept. 16 and immediately noticed his metal gate, which is never unlocked, was open.  

That was the first sign that something was not right.  

“Immediately walked in and my house was trashed,” the filmmaker told KTLA’s Sara Welch.  

Each room of the home was ransacked, Healy’s belongings scattered and tossed throughout the residence, even finding bottles of alcohol and knives in his bed.  

“There was still fresh food, like coffee and donuts with receipts from earlier that day,” he said. “From the way it looks to me, somebody must’ve been here many nights, just from the amount of stuff that was taken.”  

One of the biggest losses for Healy, though, was valuable camera equipment he needs to keep working, along with hard drives where much of his work was stored.  

The thief or thieves even made their way beneath his home.  

“It’s an old house, a lot of copper pipes, so they just started ripping pipes out of the ground,” he explained.  

After making the upsetting and unsettling discovery that squatters had invaded his home, he called police, later secured the property and left. Later, in the middle of the night, a neighbor heard someone trying to get back into his house.  

“Whoever was here tried to come back to what I guess they assumed was their place to stay for a little while and realized everything was locked up again,” Healy said.  

The cinematographer said he’s grateful to friends who organized a GoFundMe to help him as he tries to bounce back from the frightening ordeal.  

“I’m at a loss for words. It’s just great to be part of an artistic community that is there to support you,” Healy said. “At the end of the day, it’s just stuff and I’m safe, but I would love to get as much of it back as I can.”  

Unfortunately, the filmmaker did not have a security or surveillance system set up on his home, but said that’s going to change. KTLA has confirmed that the Santa Monica Police Department is investigating the matter.