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

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

State troopers discovered the 43-year-old shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday after he activated an alarm. Both police and state officials said the man had broken into the building’s transformer vault from an exterior hatchway and shut down power to some of the building's systems.

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

The six-story structure, constructed in the early 1930s, is near the Connecticut State Capitol and houses offices for the secretary of state, attorney general, state comptroller and state treasurer, as well as some other state entities.

The building recently underwent a major renovation that was completed in 2020. It was closed on Monday as police conducted an additional sweep and as state vendors and information technology staff worked to get the building's systems restored.