Police Arrest Prolific "Gumball Bandit" In The Bronx
Feb. 20, 2015, 9:04 a.m.
His license plate has "GUM" in it.
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Yesterday, the 40th Precinct in the Bronx Tweeted* that their burglary team and detectives caught the "Gumball Bandit," a man who stole "over 100 machines Bronx wide!" NYPD gumshoes tracked down suspect Jason Bietsch after a number of Bronx businesses reported that their gumball machines were disappearing and turned over their surveillance video.
According to the Post, "Bietch’s sweet-tooth spree went sour on Feb. 5, when he was allegedly caught trying to carry off a 75-pound gumball machine from a Wash & Dry in Parkchester."
“I was tending to the customers, and I saw a guy running out with the machine,” the employee said. “I chased him and he told me, ‘I’m going to bring it back.’ ”
The thief managed to escape with the machine. But his attempt to pose as a gumball machine repairman failed because the employee knew he didn’t work for Great American Vending, which restocked the machine each month.
Cops talked to officials at Great American and discovered that at least 100 of their gumball machines had recently vanished from stores around the area.
The manager of the Wash & Dry told the Daily News, "All of a sudden he grabbed the machine and started running... He slipped on the ice and so I had enough time to see his license plate. It was GUM and four other numbers. I couldn’t believe it. It’s crazy his license plate said GUM.”
It's believed that Bietsch was stealing the machines to support a drug habit. One victimized store employee said the gumball machines are worth $300 and have $60 in them at most: "He's hit small mom and pop stores. We're upset, with that money we pay the gas, the light."
Bietsch was busted when he met his parole officer yesterday (his previous arrests include one for heroin possession). A source told the Post, "He’s not the brightest guy. He thought they would be easy scores, but he didn’t count on the cameras.”
The Daily News spoke to a woman who said she was Bietsch's mother. She denies her son's involvement and insists her home is gumball-free: "I don’t know anything about something so stupid. I don’t have a single gumball in my house."
* For some inexplicable reason, the 40th Precinct deleted their Tweet. RIP Gumball Bandit Arrest-bragging.
