2 Men Charged With Blowing Up ATMs

They were arrested after Georgia blast
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 24, 2020 4:05 AM CDT
2 Men Charged With Blowing Up ATMs
Police released this surveillance image of the suspects at a Tampa Bay-area bank.   (Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office)

Two men are facing federal charges in Florida for using small explosions to rob ATMs in the Tampa Bay area, authorities said Monday. The US Attorney's Office in Tampa has charged Mawdo Malick Sallah, 33, of Clearwater, Fla., and Kirk Douglas Johnson, 34, of Anderson, SC, with conspiring to commit arson, the AP reports. They each face up to 20 years in prison. Sallah and Johnson took nearly $70,000 from several Florida ATMs between November and January and vandalized others without taking any cash, according to a criminal complaint. Investigators believe the men injected some type of flammable fuel into the machines and used a spark to ignite it. The men were arrested Sunday after setting off an explosion at an ATM in Watkinsville, Ga., prosecutors said. That ATM was damaged, but Sallah and Johnson were unable to retrieve any cash, authorities said. (More bank robbery stories.)

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