HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Two men have been indicted on charges using small explosions to rob ATMs in Florida.
Court records show a federal grand jury in Tampa returned indictments Wednesday charging both Mawdo Malick Sallah and Kirk Douglas Johnson with eight counts of arson-related charges, among others. They face possible life sentences if convicted.
Prosecutors say Sallah and Johnson took nearly $70,000 from several Tampa Bay-area ATMs between November and January and vandalized others without taking any cash. Investigators believe the men injected some type of flammable fuel into the machines and used a spark to ignite it.
They were arrested on March 22 after authorities say they blew up an ATM in Watkinsville, Georgia. During that explosion, they didn't manage to get any money out of the machine.
Three ATM explosions occurred across the Bay-area leading the FBI and ATF to get involved.
The places hit were a Valrico Regions Bank ATM on Bell Shoals Road, an ATM at a Pilot Bank in Westchase in December and an Oldsmar BB&T ATM in November.
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