Concern building over what was stolen during high-rise heist at historic building

By Tony Lopez

Click here for updates on this story

    SACRAMENTO (KOVR) — Bold break-ins happened near our State Capitol in downtown Sacramento. The target was a more than century-old high-rise building that is home to lobbyists and other political heavyweights.

But something else is weighing heavily on the victims’ minds: What did the thieves get away with?

“It’s quite the mess,” said Ron Kingston with California Strategic Advisors.

Kingston’s downtown Sacramento office was ransacked overnight by thieves.

“They were quite active. They got knives from the kitchen and opened up cabinets that were locked,” Kingston said Thursday. “All these doors and drawers had been opened and ajar. My lock-set, my door handle was totally broken.”

His is just one of 14 offices burglarized on the same night inside the historic Forum Building — a 10-story art deco office tower that dates back to 1912 and is just a block from the Capitol.

Once inside, the burglars appear to have roamed the hallways, going office to office and floor to floor looking for valuables.

“I noticed the lock wasn’t working right,” said Laura Cottrell with Houston Magnani and Associates.

Cottrell found her workplace was also hit.

“To have it be so many offices within the building, too, that’s really crazy to me,” she said.

“This wasn’t just one office,” Kingston said. “This had to be organized.”

The crooks got away with costly items like computers and cellphones — and some things much smaller.

“They took our postage stamps,” Cottrell said.

Sacramento police crime scene investigators spent hours on scene looking for clues. Detectives say another office building along K Street was also recently hit.

Some of theses offices belong to lawyers and lobbyists who are now concerned the thieves could have stolen their corporate checkbooks and confidential client files.

“They can get access to bank account numbers, credit card numbers,” Kingston said.

Victims are now trying to track down just what is missing and clean up after this high-rise heist.

“It’s a big hassle,” Cottrell said.

The victims aren’t sure just how the thieves got in. The front doors were not broken and a card key is needed to enter after hours.

The building manager is now replacing the broken office locks.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.