Marion County sheriff’s investigators are “developing people of interest” in a break-in at the courthouse that resulted in cash being stolen and hope to make an arrest soon, Sheriff Berkley Hall said.
“We started with a haystack, and we’ve got to move it to find the needle,” he said Thursday.
It’s been one of several business burglaries recently in downtown Columbia.
City police received a 911 call Monday when a courthouse employee discovered that someone had made entry to the building and offices. Police cleared and secured the building until county investigators arrived, Hall said.
The sheriff said the perpetrator or perpetrators entered every office.
“They took cash,” he said. “Most of it was cash from the Chancery Clerk’s Office and the Tax Assessor’s Office. We’re working to determine the final amounts. Every one of our investigators were at the scene, along with our chief deputy. We collected some evidence.”
Marion County supervisors and Hall have also discussed security.
“We’re looking at other measures to further secure the courthouse,” he said, noting that there had been several break-ins recently in downtown Columbia. “If you’ve got some kind of business or are a government facility, you’ve got to have some security. We are working on that now.”
Hall said anyone with information about the weekend break-in could contact his office at (601) 736-5051 or, after hours, dispatch at (601) 736-2711.
Pictured Above: The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a weekend break-in at the Marion County Courthouse. | Photo by Mark Rogers
