A deputy in Birmingham, AL caught a vending machine thief in the act of the crime. While on patrol the deputy observed a suspicious van parked at a self-service car wash. The deputy stopped to investigate and could find no one around the vehicle, according to a release. An inspection of the business revealed that the office door had been pried open.
The deputy looked in the door to see a man wearing a ski mask using a power grinder in an attempt to open a money box on a vending machine. The suspect did not immediately see the deputy.
Additional units were called to assist. The man stopped grinding, went to a tool box and picked up a screw driver. When he turned around the deputy confronted him and ordered him to drop the screwdriver. Twenty-five year old James Russell Moore was arrested and charged with Burglary 3rd Degree, Criminal Mischief 1st Degree and Theft of Property 3rd Degree.
He remains in the Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $36,000.
