Santa Ana : Inept Burglar Invades Tax Collector’s Office
An intruder smashed a glass door with a concrete steppingstone to break into the unguarded Orange County tax collector’s office early Monday but apparently fled without stealing anything of value, authorities said.
County Tax Collector Robert Citron said the intruder tried but failed to get into the vault in an inner office but was able to take only a few coins from desks ransacked at the office in the Santa Ana Civic Center complex.
Lt. Dick Olson, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, said the break-in apparently occurred between midnight and 6 a.m. Monday when that area of the building was unguarded. The office does not have an alarm system.
The tax collector said some employees were working elsewhere in the building where the county’s computerized tax records are kept under 24-hour surveillance, but they did not hear any break-in noise.
Citron indicated that the intruder could have been a drug addict looking for cash. After smashing the outer door, the thief then pulled a water hose from a wall and used the brass nozzle to break another glass door leading to the inner office where the vault is located.
The tax collector also said the intruder apparently was injured, because bloody fingerprints were found.
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