Man breaks into city building after being released, sneaks into closed courtroom, police say

'He told one of the officers that this wasn't over.'

Universal City – A man released by Universal City police from the city jail allegedly returned to the building and managed to sneak into a closed courtroom.

Universal City Police Detective Anthony Travis said Andres Madrigal, 29, was arrested on minor warrants and released from their custody on Saturday, July 25, but made threats to officers.

“He told one of the officers that this wasn’t over,” Travis said.

On Monday, July 27, police were called to city hall where there was evidence of a break-in. Surveillance video showed officers what Madrigal had allegedly been up to after he was released from their jail.

Police said he hid in the men’s restroom where he somehow crawled through the ceiling and made it into the closed courtroom.

“There were tiles basically hanging down. There was an entire tile missing. There was a piece of a wall that was cut out,” he said.

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According to the arrest affidavit, Madrigal managed to get into the court’s computer system, because the password was under the keyboard.

Police said surveillance video shows Madrigal walking out of the building Sunday morning. The affidavit says his distinct red shoes and a pair of scissors from inside the courtroom were found behind the fire department.

When police attempted to arrest him at his home, they said he tried to elude them.

“Inside of his house, he hid in a bunch of different places. We cleared the residence a couple of times and he ends up in an area that we have checked over and over again,” Travis said.

Upgrades to the city’s building security system will be made, Travis said.

Madrigal was released from the county jail on bond and is awaiting indictment on felony counts of burglary of a building with intent to commit theft, and computer break of a security system.

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About the Authors:

Patty Santos joined the KSAT 12 News team in July 2017. She has a proven track record of reporting on hard-hitting news that affects the community.