News

News of the weird: Persistence doesn't pay off for ATM thief

January 18, 2004

WELLSVILLE, Pa. - Persistence usually pays off -- but not for aspiring ATM thief Shawn Myers.

According to a report in the York Dispatch, at a Jan. 14 sentencing hearing in York County Court Myers related how he and his brother backed a pickup truck through a plate glass window at Lynn's Market in Wellsville and tried to hitch an ATM to the truck in May of 2001. They failed.

Myers told York County Court of Common Pleas Judge Sheryl Ann Dorney that the brothers went back to the store a few days later and backed a truck through the plywood covering the broken window, trying again to take the ATM.

Again, they failed.

A few days after that, they backed up to a Rutter's Farm Store, shattered a window with a hammer, and succeeded in hitching the ATM inside to their truck, Myers said. They drove down the street, dragging the ATM behind them.

The ATM skidded and hit a parked car, prompting the brothers to leave it there.

Several months later, the brothers returned to Lynn's Market, drove through a plate-glass window, and succeeded in hitching the ATM to the truck and driving off, the machine suspended in the air behind them.

But when they opened the ATM, Myers said, they found no money. Myers told the judge that he and his brother tried to steal the ATM because he needed cash to pay court costs associated with previous cases.

Myers, a Mechanicsburg resident, pleaded guilty to six counts of burglary, five counts of theft, four counts of criminal mischief, five counts of criminal trespass and several counts of attempt to and conspiracy to commit those crimes.

Dorney sentenced the 23-year-old man to three to six years in state prison; he must also pay restitution, which could total thousands of dollars.

In addition to the ATM capers, Myers pleaded guilty to several counts relating to the theft of a number of cars and trucks, some of them stolen to use in ramming an ATM to knock it over -- and failing.

He also admitted to running a chop shop, altering vehicle identification numbers and stealing some items from his landlord.

It took more than 90 minutes for Dorney to go through all of the charges against Myers, accept his guilty pleas and sentence him, according to the York Dispatch report.