Camera catches ATM attack

A man angry because an ATM machine ate his card is charged with destroying the after-hours banker after he tore into it with a screwdriver trying to retrieve his card.

The suspect, J.C. Martin Baker, 23, told police the ATM located at U.S. Bank on Chancery Street took his card when he plugged it into the machine to make a transaction in the pre-dawn hours of July 21. Baker reportedly admitted to pulling a screwdriver from his car in a fit of anger and attacking the machine, prying on the ATM until he was able to free a box located inside its front face. The entire episode was captured by the machine’s surveillance camera which recorded the suspect prying on the ATM for several minutes. While able to remove the box, no money was lost as cash in ATM machines is kept deep inside the machines in a locked safe. The bank manager estimated damage to the machine at around $12,000, leaving Baker saddled with the felony offense of vandalism over $10,000.

While Baker says he lost his cool, police aren’t so sure of his story given the fact he is also charged with another crime, namely a premeditated burglary involving a former employer.

According to police reports, Baker burglarized Hutchins Auto Sales on the same day as the ATM vandalism. Investigators learned a bumper jack was used to bend open the front door of the garage where a four-wheeler was stolen. Baker, who had recently worked at the garage and had shown more than passing interest in the four-wheeler, was the first suspect of the owner who confronted Baker about the theft. It was a short time later Baker brought back the Suzuki four-wheeler claiming he had recovered it from the real thief, a man he referred to as ‘Charlie.’ Police do not believe Baker’s story.

In addition to all his other troubles, Baker faces a potential mandatory six months in jail because he is a convicted sex offender who failed to report his whereabouts when he came back to McMinnville from out-of-state. The sex offender registry requires sex offenders to report to local law enforcement within 48 hours of establishing a new residence. Baker had reportedly been here a few months.