Metro-east men used tools to steal thousands from ATMs in St. Louis County, police say
%20(1)%20(1)%20(1).jpg "Two metro-east men have been charged in connection with the theft of money from two ATMs in St. Louis County.")
Two metro-east men face felony charges of using tools to break into two automatic teller machines in St. Louis County and steal about $90,000 in cash, police said Thursday.
Ronald Blake, 53, of the 300 block of Skyline View Drive in Collinsville, and Aveon Jones, 34, of the 1800 block of Market Street in Madison are charged in the case, according to a news release from the St. Louis County Police Department.
The two men were not in custody as of Thursday afternoon.
Blake and Jones are each charged with two counts of stealing from an ATM and two counts of first-degree property damage.
“Two ATMs, located side by side in a parking lot on Bellefontaine Road, were forcibly broken into two weeks apart and cash stolen from inside,” according to the probable cause statement.
The first break-in occurred on Nov. 30 when $32,675 was stolen from an ATM at 12115 Bellefontaine Road.
On Dec. 12, $57,685 was taken from an ATM at 12127 Bellefontaine Road.
Tools were used to break into the machines in the early morning hours, according to court records.
Investigators used surveillance video to identify suspects in the thefts and the vehicle used by the suspects.
“The same vehicle was also involved in similar ATM thefts during the same time period in north St. Louis County and in Illinois,” according to court records.
Also, data from the phones belonging to Blake and Jones show they were in the immediate vicinity at the time of the thefts at the two ATMs on Bellefontaine Road as well as the ATMs from the other reported thefts involving the same vehicle, according to court records.
