Burglar hits several Utah city hall buildings
Apr 27, 2023, 7:24 PM | Updated: 7:49 pm
FIELDING, Utah — Investigators believe a thief is targeting small town City Halls. It’s confusing to some of those cities because they don’t keep a lot of cash inside.
The most recent break-in was in Fielding. It’s a town of approximately 5,000 residents in Box Elder County.
In this case, the mayor said the guy busted through the back door, and the damage caused is likely more costly than what was actually stolen.
Detectives say the suspect is just taking whatever he wants.
Each time he wore a hoodie to hide his face.
The first break-in was in November in Nibley.
City Manager, Justin Maughan said the man made his way through their offices into a back room. “He busted a back window into kind of a main hallway. We used to have our safe contained in this cabinet,” Maughan said. “He took the entire safe and walked out the front door.”
Maughan said the thief did not take a lot but the damage done and the violation of public space put workers on edge.
“It was pretty unnerving you know. It kind of feels almost like home us,” he said. “We’re a small town and so for us to come in and see that somebody had violated and gone through our things was, it shook us up a little bit.”
Investigators believe it’s likely the same man broke into city offices in Lewiston and Paradise. While it’s hard to identify the man, everything looks familiar.
Chuck Earl is the Mayor of Fielding. He said a paramedic arrived for work to find a back door busted open.
“Ruined all the drawers in the desk,” Fielding explained. “I don’t know why they’re doing it because I wouldn’t think most cities have a lot of cash sitting around.”
Between the busted desk and doors, it’s annoying and troubling to the city employees that spend a lot of time in these buildings.
Fielding said, “It’s a special place to us and it’s our home.”
City leaders in the areas say the burglaries have prompted them to rethink security.
If you think you know something that may help investigators, you can reach out to the Cache or Box Elder Sheriff’s Offices.
