Authorities continue to investigate an Easter weekend break-in at Troy city hall.
Police say trespassers gained entrance to the Hedley Building sometime between 10 p.m. Saturday and the wee hours of Sunday. Troy Mayor Patrick Madden says the incident delayed city hall opening for a few hours on Monday morning.
"At some point over the weekend, somebody or somebodies accessed 433 River Street where our offices are located," Madden said. "And they broke into several suites in the building, did varying amounts of damage. And that triggered an investigation this morning, we closed City Hall to give the police department an opportunity to do their investigation."
Troy Police Chief Dan DeWolf says no locks or doors showed evidence of tampering.
"There was no forced entry that we've been able to determine so far," DeWolf said. "And whoever the person or people are that did enter, we're working on that we're looking at video and so on that we've been able to find. It appears to be mostly mischievous. There were some items that were taken from one of the floors, some laptops were taken. And maybe some other items, but there's no like targeted, specific suite that was that was, you know, accessed or anything like that."
Madden says there is no cause for alarm and no vital records or documents were disturbed or compromised.
"I just would like to take a moment to assure people in Troy that none of our records, none of our computers, were accessed, it really looks to be mainly mischievous activity," Madden said. "So, food, thrown about, some desks tossed, not the desk, but the contents. But we don't find that any files were accessed, most of our offices were locked in a way that they couldn't breach. So my office, the treasurer's office, the IT office, critical offices were locked, inaccessible. And that's, you know, that indicates that our systems a system of security works, but they did get in and the police are doing a thorough investigation.”
City Hall itself has no security cameras, but video from cameras on other floors is being reviewed. DeWolf says detectives and evidence technicians are sifting through bits of evidence relating to the incursion.
"City Hall really was pretty secure," said DeWolf. "So all the main offices, you know, that had sensitive information in them, were all locked in those those acts, they were not getting access to it all. So you know, we're still working on the case. And we'll go from there."
DeWolf adds detectives and evidence technicians are following normal investigative procedures to determine what, if any, other crimes may have been committed, as well as the identity of any suspects. He says there is no reason to believe that City Hall was specifically targeted.
Madden noted that the weekend mischief also impacted a healthcare provider also operating in the building, which could have dangerously interfered with patients’ treatment plans and access to care.
City Hall reopened Tuesday for in-person transactions. No missing items have been reported as yet. Troy Police Detectives continue to follow leads and encourage anyone with information, whether direct observations or something they’ve heard on social media or "through the grapevine," to call them at (518) 270-4421.
