Lincoln Police Looking for Coin Machine Burglar

By: Chad Silber - Email

Updated: Fri 8:56 PM, Sep 21, 2012

Lincoln Police have tallied 41 coin machine break-ins this year alone.

The most recent, at a car wash where Police believe the criminal had vandalized before.

Around 2am on September 9th, surveillance captured a man at the Power Wash Car Wash on South 70th Street.

"He was at the car wash for 25 minutes trying to pry on these machines and when he walks up to the machines, it looks like he had 2 pry bars in the sleeves of his shirt," said LPD Officer Erin Spilker.

He wasn't able to get the machine open, but he sure left his mark, causing $500 in damage. Spilker says this isn't the first time our suspect pulled a stunt like this at the Power Wash. She says just two months prior, he did the same thing. "Similarities between the two and damages really make us think that it's probably the same person."

In a recent crimestoppers story, we featured the same man stealing from the same car wash. Police believe he tried to hide his identity this time.

"The person is wearing their hood up and it looks like they're wearing a ski mask and the vehicle is parked a ways away," said Spilker. "In the first one, they weren't wearing a ski mask and the vehicle is parked right up next to the building. I think probably he saw that we featured this on Crimestoppers."

But he wasn't done there.

"We also think he might be responsible for going onto the Menards Lumber Yard and trying to take a copper wire spool," said Spilker.

He wasn't able to remove the expensive spool but he did manage to catch the attention of a third surveillance camera.

Now police hope you'll recognize at least one of the images and help bring him to justice.

If you know anything about any of these cases, call Crimestoppers at 475-3600. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

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