Century Ballroom suspect had keys, prior bust for area burglary

The man arrested by cops for attempting to break into the Century Ballroom was charged Monday with second degree burglary in what court documents describe as a planned effort to steal from the historic Odd Fellows building.

According to the court documents, an employee of the Ballroom says he encountered Benjamin Vaagen after he had broken into the building through the third floor balcony. The employee saw Vaagen exiting a room where the Century Ballroom's safe is located and called 911 before following Vaagen out of the building.

When cops caught up with Vaagen on the basketball courts in Cal Anderson Park, they say they found four keys on the suspect -- one of them a master with access to all parts of the building. The building's owner, developer Craig Swanson, told police he had noticed missing keys on Tuesday, June 23 and had several locks in the building replaced.

From Vaagen's MySpace page

Video from cameras inside Century Ballroom showed Vaagen using the keys to access rooms inside the business.

Century Ballroom owner Hallie Kuperman told police that six weeks prior to the break-in, somebody entered the business and removed three of the surveilance cameras.

This is not Vaagen's first run-in with the law. In 2007, he was charged for his part in a meth and burglary ring that targeted Seattle University and other area businesses and homes. Vaagen pled guilty and received a sentence of 205 days for those crimes. Vaagen's arraignment in the Ballrooom case is scheduled for July 13.