Bail almost $700K for man in ATM theft case

A 36-year-old man was being held on $690,000 bail Dec. 13 after trying to steal an ATM from Chase Bank in Port Orchard.

He was charged in Kitsap County Superior Court with unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and firearm and burglary in the first degree. The convicted felon faces life in prison plus 20 years if convicted, along with $90,000 in fines.

When Kitsap County deputies arrived at Mile Hill Drive at around 5:26 a.m. Dec. 12 they saw a tow strap connected to a stolen semi-truck that had pulled the ATM out of the ground.

A 31-year-old woman ran from the scene, but was quickly caught. The woman also was in court Dec. 13, and her bail was set at $490,000. She was charged with first-degree burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle. She faces life plus 10 years, along with $70,000 in fines.

The man, a convicted felon, also attempted to run and was stopped at a nearby business after a brief struggle. Officials noted a black semi-automatic handgun that was dropped by the suspect during the chase.

The man yelled out, “I can’t breathe,” and he went limp. An officer’s report says Narcan was administered.

An aid car arrived, and when the suspect was stable he was searched, and a large amount of money was found, documents say. He was transported in a patrol car to St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor.

Both the handgun and the truck were reported as stolen. Other equipment, such as a generator and a “jaws of life” tool, were originally reported as stolen out of Pierce County but was later corrected to have been surplused by the department this year.

Also, detectives obtained enough information to identify them as the same people who stole an Amazon van on Salmonberry Road and transferred its contents to a stolen U-Haul truck in November.