Houston, TX man charged with LeRoy ATM theft; two other suspects may be at large
Markell Kinney, 21 (courtesy of Mitchell County Sheriff's Office, background credit: MGN/Pixabay).
(ABC 6 News) – A Houston, Texas man is in Mower County jail after an early January incident involving a busted LeRoy ATM.
Markell Kinney faces the following Mower County charges: felony theft; 1st-degree damage to property; receiving stolen property; and fleeing law enforcement in a motor vehicle.
Court documents allege there were three suspects involved in the ATM robbery — but only one arrest.
“There have been no other arrests made in the Leroy ATM theft case,” Mower County sheriff Steve Sandvik said in an email. “Due to the active ongoing investigation there is no other information available at this time. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Mower County Sheriff’s Office at 507-437-9400 extension #1.”
According to court documents, at about 3 a.m. Jan. 11, Mower County deputies responded to First State Bank in LeRoy.
A caller told responders she was awakened by a loud bang near the bank, then say that a silver truck had run into the ATM on the north side. It had left the area, according to court documents.
As one deputy went toward the bank, he allegedly saw a silver, four-door truck matching the woman’s description driving west on CR 6, just behind a dark “sport utility” vehicle.
The deputy began following the silver truck to the Minnesota state border, where it began driving east on gravel-paved State Line Road. The sport utility vehicle crossed into Iowa.
The deputy turned on his lights and siren, but lost sight of the vehicle due to dust, until he pulled up to the truck on its roof at the intersection of State Line Road and 680th Avenue, according to court documents.
The deputy saw a suspect, later identified as Kinney, crawling out of a window. Kinney allegedly fled the scene.
Court documents allege that the silver truck had been stolen from a Spillville, Iowa lot.
The ATM bust
Later that morning, Mower County deputies allegedly located video of the incident, which showed two men getting into the silver truck and driving south on Broadway street shortly after the ATM was ripped out of the ground.
Footage from the bank itself showed the truck backing up to the ATM with a “newer log chain” attached to the rear of the truck.
According to court documents, three people wearing black with white face masks exited the truck, used prybars to pull the cover off the ATM, then attached the chains to the truck.
One of the suspects got into the truck and used it to pull the ATM off the concrete. The others took the “cassette” holding the cash out of the ATM, then got back into the truck and drove off.
Court documents claim the ATM’s keyholder estimated that the ATM held between $20K and $50K. The value of the ATM itself was estimated at more than $35K.
According to court documents, Mower County law enforcement later found pieces of broken plastic that looked like the ATM cassette at Stateline Road near 760th Avenue.
Kinney’s arrest
Court documents allege that deputies received a tip about a man walking in the 500 block of Quail Avenue, Stacyville, about 1.25 miles away from the truck crash.
The man was wearing clothing that matched those seen on the person who fled, according to court documents.
Mitchell County, IA deputies detained Kinney and said they had located several pieces of clothing around the area, including black hoodies, a glove, and a Jordan tennis shoe that allegedly matched a print found near the ATM.
The other suspects are not named or described in Kinney’s Mower County court documents.
Kinney is held on $50,000 bail with conditions, or $100,000 bail with no conditions, according to Minnesota court records.
He is scheduled to appear again Feb. 24.
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(ABC 6 News) – A person was detained after an incident involving a busted ATM over the weekend in LeRoy, local authorities said Monday.
According to a media release from Mower County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), deputies responded to the incident at 3:20 a.m.
MCSO responded to an ATM alarm at First State Bank in LeRoy. There was a report that a silver full size pickup truck appeared to have been involved, officials said.
Deputies then found a vehicle that reportedly matched the description of the truck going west on County Road 6 in Mower County. According to MCSO, deputies tried to stop the vehicle but it kept going, trying to evade them.
The vehicle then went onto a gravel road, and deputies lost sight of it briefly. It was then found a half mile down the road where it had lost control and rolled, MCSO said.
A ‘non-compliant male subject’ was found fleeing the crashed vehicle on foot. After searching the area, Mower County deputies found a man who reportedly matched the description of the suspect who fled. He was detained by Mitchell County Sheriff’s deputies as a subject of interest.
That person of interest was identified as 21-year-old Markell Kinney of unknown residency. At this time, Kinney is not facing any charges.
According to MCSO, the total amount of cash stolen and damage estimates are not known at this time. Authorities are actively investigating the incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mower County Sheriff’s Office. Its number is (507) 437-9400.