CALIFORNIA – Two men were charged Friday for allegedly being involved in a string of ATM robberies in which they used power tools and a truck to forcibly open safes inside drive-up ATMs and steal nearly a half million dollars, officials said.
James William Costilow, 38, of Riverside, and David Joseph Silva Jr., 25, of Fontana, were charged in federal court with attempted theft from a bank.
The affidavit describes how Costilow and Silva allegedly broke into ATM safes: “A type of power saw or a ‘jaws of life’ device is used to cut into the safe doors. Once the safe doors are weakened, a nylon towrope is tied to the safe door and to the truck. The truck attempts to pull the safe door off, enabling access to the money.”
There have been 15 thefts and attempted thefts from drive-up ATMs at Chase Bank branches in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties over the past six months.
The affidavit states that investigators believe Costilow and Silva were involved in all 15 incidents.
The charge relates to an unsuccessful ATM robbery early Tuesday morning in Murrieta, but the affidavit in support of the complaint alleges that the two men “have been successful in approximately four incidents and have stolen approximately $462,093 in cash,” according to officials.
The attempted theft charge in the complaint stems from an incident in which Costilow and Silva allegedly went to a Chase Bank branch in Murrieta, used a pass code to trigger an audit of the ATM cash supply, and, once money was delivered to the machine, attempted to break into the safe to steal the money.
After attempting to cut the hinges on the safe doors, officials allege that they tried to pull the doors off with a truck, but the attempt failed when the bumper came off the truck, according to the affidavit.
Murrieta Police officers responded to the incident and took Costilow and Silva into custody after a short chase.
Costilow crashed the motorcycle and ran onto a golf course, shedding his helmet, a jacket and a ski mask. A bloodhound tracked him to a house where he was found hiding behind a chimney on a roof, according to KTVU.com
Silva was arrested a few hours later after a police dog chased him down.
The defendants are facing up to 10 years in prison each for the attempted bank theft, officials said.