SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 4, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Officials have arrested a suspect after the Salt Lake City Justice Courts were burglarized over the weekend.
The Salt Lake City Police Department tweeted Monday afternoon it was asking for the public’s help in locating Benjamin Bandfield, 26, who was captured in a surveillance photo.
Tuesday afternoon, the SLCPD tweeted that Bandfield was in custody.
A probable cause statement from the 3rd District Court of Salt Lake County said Bandfield is facing charges of criminal mischief, a second-degree felony; burglary, a third-degree felony; failure to register as a sex offender, a class A misdemeanor; and three charges of failure to maintain current ID card– sex/child abuse offender, class A misdemeanor.
Salt Lake City police officials said the courts, at 333 S. 200 East, were burglarized and ransacked sometime between Friday night and Monday morning. Security officers discovered the damage when they came to work Monday.
“A/P (accused person) entered the building unlawfully after hours by force through the front door,” the statement said. “While inside the Justice Court Building, A/P proceeded to damage property, estimating over $5,000.”
The suspect never made it to the clerical area where the sensitive files are kept, officials said.
Bandfield is a non-compliant sex offender and has failed to register as well as failed to obtain a state ID and comply within the sex offender guidelines, the probable cause statement said.
He has been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail with his bail set at $17,800.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
