Pennsylvania man arrested after breaking into electrical safe in Connecticut state office building

HARTFORD, Conn. — Police are investigating why a man with a Pennsylvania address broke into a high-voltage vault in the basement of the Connecticut State Office Building, home to state officials, and turned off the circuit breakers.

State agents discovered the 43-year-old shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday after he triggered an alarm. Both police and state officials said the man broke into the building’s transformer vault through an exterior hatch and knocked out power to some of the building’s systems.

State police said in a statement that it was “not a targeted incident,” that no offices were affected by the break-in and that there was no danger to the public or employees in the building. No other unauthorized persons were found during an overnight search.

The six-story building, built in the early 1930s, is located near the Connecticut State Capitol and houses the offices of the secretary of state, attorney general, state comptroller and state treasurer, as well as several other state agencies.

The building recently underwent a major renovation that was completed in 2020. It was closed Monday while police conducted an additional inspection and while state contractors and IT staff worked to restore the building’s systems.