TAYLORSVILLE — A Taylorsville man who police say stole a tractor, and then used it to steal and break into an ATM is now being linked to similar crimes around the valley.
Joshua James Mangum, 42, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with causing property damage, a second and a third-degree felony; two counts of burglary, a third-degree felony; and two counts of theft, a class A and a class B misdemeanor. The charges come a day after he was arrested for investigation of burglary in another case.
On Dec. 5, Mangum went to Holiday Oil, 3436 S. 2300 East, cut the power to the building and broke into an ATM, taking about $1,000, according to charging documents. He caused about $8,500 in damage, however, to the store including the window frame, the charges state.
“Officers also discovered that Roots Café, 3437 S. 2300 East, had also been burglarized after the unknown suspect, later identified as Joshua James Mangum, used a pry bar to bend the door frame and entered the business while it was closed. Mangum stole approximately $150 worth of cash from the petty cash drop envelope,” charging documents state.
Mangum also caused about $2,800 in damage to the cafe.
On Monday, Mangum was arrested in connection with an ATM theft on Dec. 22, at the Holiday Gas Station at 6189 S. 3200 West.
“Officers were able to see tire tracks leading away from the front door of the business and believed the suspect used some sort of tractor to remove the ATM. Later in the morning once the sun came up, officers were dispatched to the construction site located at 6189 S. 3200 West — directly across the street from Holiday Gas — where they located a tractor at the bottom of a hill next to several pieces of the stolen ATM,” a police booking affidavit states.
Police reviewed surveillance video and watched as Mangum drove the tractor up a hill just after midnight, park it and wait for employees of the gas station to leave about 40 minutes later, the affidavit states.
“The suspect walks around the rear of the building to the south side where the power box is ultimately turned off,” police stated.
A little over $2,600 was taken from the ATM. But police say the damage to the store is between $30,000 to $40,000, and the damage to a fence he allegedly drove through to get the tractor was nearly $8,000, according to the affidavit.
Investigators recognized Mangum in the video as a man wanted for investigation in burglaries in Taylorsville, West Jordan, Kearns and Millcreek “and is responsible for thousands of dollars of damage and stolen currency from those burglaries,” the affidavit states.
Detectives used facial recognition technology to come up with a possible suspect, according to the affidavit, and then talked to witnesses and collected driver’s license information to confirm it was Mangum, tracked him down and arrested him, according to court documents.
“Joshua, over the course of three months, has demonstrated his lack of concern for the property of others as he severely damaged strangers’ property in several cities along the Salt Lake Valley … in what he claimed was to obtain narcotics to feed his addiction,” the affidavit states.
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