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Updated at 10:50 p.m. Friday: Del Norte County staff are still trying to figure out how a man got into the administrative building after hours.

After he entered the Flynn Center at about 5:30 p.m. May 10, the suspect, who police identified as 38-year-old Michael Hood, allegedly broke into one of the county's human resources and risk management offices, County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Friday.

Hood wasn't able to access any confidential files since they were in another room, however, Lopez said.

"Very few people have access to that [room]," the CAO told the Outpost.

There was no vandalism, Lopez said. Apart from taking some food, the suspect "didn't mess with anybody's stuff," according to the CAO.

Meanwhile, Lopez said the county is exploring different mechanisms for ensuring the Flynn Center's doors are locked after business hours. Up until 5 p.m. those doors are open to the public. After 5 p.m., they're typically locked.

"We're assuming either something got caught ajar or somebody entered the doors during regular hours and it didn't close on its own," Lopez said. "I don't know if the IT department or the sheriff have determined that exactly or not. For him to access the actual office, I think he actually broke into one of the doors."

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Original Post:

Crescent City police are searching for a 38-year-old man they say stayed after business hours at Del Norte County’s administrative building last Friday and forced himself into one of the locked offices.

Though staff later reported food, miscellaneous candy and medication missing following the break-in, CCPD Det. Ethan Miller said no one reported file drawers being rifled through “or anything like that.”

“Everything was password protected, [there were] no computers accessed or files missing,” he told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Thursday.

Michael Hood allegedly entered the Flynn Center at 981 H Street in Crescent City at about 5:30 p.m. May 10, Miller said. The suspect then went upstairs and allegedly forced himself into one of the offices. Miller said Hood “appears to have hid out in there” and left at about 10 p.m.

In addition to allegedly taking the food and the medication, Hood is also suspected of taking a sweatshirt, though no one has reported that item missing, Miller said.

Surveillance footage shows the suspect entering the building wearing a pair of pants and a tank top, according to the detective. Hood was wearing the sweatshirt when he left and had food and maybe a cigarette in his hands, Miller told the Outpost.

Hood was booked and released from the Del Norte County jail the day before the Flynn Center burglary, Miller said.

Officers were called to the United Methodist Church at 664 H Street at about 6:38 a.m. May 9 after someone saw a man allegedly trying to pick the lock. They found Hood at the church and arrested him on suspicion of attempted burglary, Miller said. Hood was also booked into the jail on charges him of possession of drug paraphernalia.

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