A group of six thieves struck a series of Tri-Cities ATMs in what appears to be a coordinated effort to steal money.
Four of those suspects, Edwin Alfredo Castaneda-Marcano, 23, Hector Luis Acosta Guillen, 24, Keyner Jose Herrera De La Hoz, 21, and Kevin Jose Herrera De La Hoz, 27, have been charged in Franklin County Superior Court for their role in stealing $21,000 from a Pasco bank.
They are charged with first-degree theft, second-degree burglary and computer trespass in connection with the crimes.
Acosta Guillen and Keyner Herrera De La Hoz are being held on $100,000 bail in the Franklin County jail.
Nationwide $500,000 warrants have been issued for the other two men.
Pasco investigators first learned about the coordinated theft on April 1 after Pasco’s HAPO Credit Union reported $21,000 was stolen from their ATM. The same group of men tried to steal money from Kennewick and Richland branches, but weren’t successful.
Security video from the bank shows six men show up at the bank during the night. Kevin Herrera De La Hoz used a key to open the top while Castaneda-Marcano installed a special piece of electronics in the machine, according to court documents.
Pasco Detective Julie Lee explained the device is installed into the ATM network interface. The device makes the machine dispense a programmed amount of cash whenever a card is used.
The video shows six men including two unidentified men making withdrawals until $21,000 was taken from the ATM. Then Castaneda-Marcano and another man take out the device.
One of the vehicles used at the Pasco HAPO branch had a Minnesota license plate. A few police agencies across the country had checked out that license plate. One of those was Helper City Police Department in Helper, Utah. Keyner Herrera De La Hoz had been identified as the driver.
It’s not clear if the men had used this method to steal from other banks.
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