Attempted burglary at KPA damages building

Some time during the early hours on Monday, a person or persons tried to break into the Kansas Press Association office in Topeka.

Although entry wasn’t gained, significant damage was sustained to three windows and two doors.

“We didn’t actually learn of the attempted burglary until Tuesday morning when I went out briefly to spray some weeds with Roundup,” said Doug Anstaett. “Even though the alarm went off on Monday morning, we’ve had a number of issues with false alarms and nothing seemed awry in the office when we arrived. This time we guessed wrong.”

A Topeka police officer filled out an incident report.

“When I told him our alarm had gone off early Monday morning, he called in and confirmed the police had come to the scene and observed the pry marks and other damage,” Anstaett said. “We’re upset that neither our alarm company nor the police followed up with us on Monday.

“Had I not gone out to spray the weeds on Tuesday morning, we might not have discovered the damage for several days.”

Anstaett said he would be writing a letter of concern to the Topeka police chief and to the alarm company, ADT.

When he later asked a neighboring business owner if he had experienced any issues, he was informed that particular business had a burglary attempt on July 9, and that he had been made aware of other attempted burglaries in the area.