Famous author robbed

2002-09-27 11:39

Santa Monica - Police are hunting for two armed men who tied up "Jurassic Park" author Michael Crichton and his 13-year-old daughter in the middle of the night and ransacked their home.

Crichton and his daughter were unharmed by the two masked men who broke into their home in suburban Santa Monica and stole undisclosed personal items, a spokesman for the 59-year-old writer said.

"An incident did occur at the house and Michael and his family are fine," publicist Joe Marich said. He declined to elaborate on the incident.

A police spokesman said two suspects entered the home wearing ski masks and bound Crichton and the girl at gunpoint before ransacking their belongings.

After the gunmen left, he said, Crichton and his daughter were able to untie themselves and call police.

Crichton's wife Anne Marie has filed for divorce. The couple has lived apart since August 2001, according to court papers filed earlier this month.

The Crichtons have separate homes in Santa Monica and share custody of their daughter.

A 1969 graduate of Harvard Medical School, Crichton first achieved fame as an author when his novel Andromeda Strain was made into a film in 1971.

More than a dozen of his other novels and screenplays - many centering on medicine and science - were made into movies. He also created the hit TV hospital drama ER.

His works include Coma, Westworld, Twister, The Great Train Robbery, and Disclosure.

The movie studio 20th Century Fox recently purchased the motion picture rights to his upcoming novel, Prey, whose plot is a closely guarded secret.

- Reuters