Manteca man blew up ATMs to steal money, police say. He wasn’t very successful
Authorities said a Manteca man used explosive devices to blow open automatic teller machines in Modesto, Manteca and Lodi over the past two weeks.
Rangel Gunesindo Hernandez, 32, was arrested by Manteca police Wednesday on suspicion of possession of an explosive device, arson and burglary in connection with the most recent incident in Modesto early Sunday morning.
In the four cases Manteca police say Hernandez is connected to, he was only successful in getting money from one.
An undisclosed amount of cash was taken from a Bank of America ATM kiosk at a strip mall on Main Street in Manteca on Jan. 20, said police Lt. Stephen Schluer.
On Jan. 25 at a Wells Fargo ATM at a shopping center on Lathrop Road, the explosion wound up catching the ATM on fire and the suspect fled without any money.
An attempt to repeat the theft at an ATM in Lodi the day before was interrupted and the explosive device was left, intact, at the scene. Schluer described it as a “pressure type bomb” consisting of a propane bottle and tube.
The same type of device was found at the Modesto scene, a Wells Fargo ATM in the 1300 block of Woodland Avenue, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear. That ATM also caught fire and no cash was taken.
Bear said detectives identified Hernandez from surveillance footage and notified Manteca police.
On Wednesday, Hernandez was spotted by an undercover Manteca detective and taken into custody following a traffic stop on Austin Road, just south of the city.
Detectives from the Manteca and Modesto departments served a search warrant in Manteca and found evidence linking the suspect to all four incidents, authorities said.
Hernandez was booked into Stanislaus County Jail for the Modesto case and is facing charges related to the incidents in San Joaquin County as well. He is being held on $710,000 bail.
Anyone with information about the incidents is encouraged to contact Manteca police Sgt. Gregg Beall at 209-456-8164.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 12:25 PM.
