TAMPA, Fla. -- Two men, one from Clearwater and another from South Carolina, are facing federal charges after investigators say they caused several ATMs to explode across the Tampa Bay area.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 33-year-old Mawdo Sallah, of Clearwater, and 34-year-old Kirk Johnson, of Anderson, South Carolina, took nearly $70,000 from the blown-up ATMs in the Tampa Bay area between November 2019 and January 2020.
The two were arrested on Sunday, March 22, after setting off an explosion at an ATM in Watkinsville, Georgia.
Both Sallah and Johnson are being charged with conspiring to commit arson.
Leading up to their arrests, authorities across the Tampa Bay area had been investigating the following ATM explosions between November 2019 and January 2020:
- BB&T at 3902 Tampa Rd. in Oldsmar (Nov. 2019
- Pilot Bank at 12471 W Linebaugh Ave. in Tampa (Dec. 2019)
- Regions Bank at 3522 Bell Shoals Rd. in Valrico (Jan. 2020)
If convicted, both Sallah and Johnson could each face between five and 20 years in federal prison. Both men are currently detained by the Oconee County (Georgia) Sheriff's Office.
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