SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A Chula Vista man has been sentenced to 11 and a half years in prison for blowing up ATMs in an attempt to steal the money inside.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, 50-year-old Chad Engel pleaded guilty in July 2022 to using an explosive to commit a felony and conspiracy to commit a bank burglary.
Engel and his co-conspirator caused explosions at two different locations in 2017. The first happened at the California Coast Credit Union, located at 4285 Ruffin Road, on July 4. The second explosion happened on Aug. 13, 2017, when the criminals targeted an ATM at a Chevron gas station at 9650 Miramar Road.
The press release says Engel admitted that he made and detonated a pipe bomb on a metal shelf underneath the ATM at the CCCU. That explosion failed to break the money out of the machine, but it was badly damaged.
At the Chevron gas station, Engel and the other suspect drilled a hole into the outdoor ATM and fed an unknown gas into it.
"Engel then placed and ignited a hobby fuse inside the drilled hole, which resulted in an explosion that destroyed the ATM," the release says.
Engel grabbed a cash box from the destroyed ATM's debris, and it had about $7,000 inside, according to the indictment.
Investigators from the ATF, FBI and San Diego Fire Department's Metro Arson Strike Team responded to both scenes and collected evidence from the post-blast debris, confirming that destructive devices were used.
The attorney's office says investigators learned the two suspects tried to break into other ATMs before resorting to homemade explosives. Engel also admitted that they broke into a Super Laundry in National City in June 2017 to steal money from the ATM. They failed to get into the machine; however, they stole about $140 from the business.
A week later, they managed to separate an ATM from a 76 Gas Station located at 12860 Rancho Peñasquitos Blvd., and they loaded it into their vehicle. They took it nearby Fiesta Island and used a grinder and cutting torch to steal the money from inside, the release says.
U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman thanked the prosecutors, ATF, Metro Arson Strike Team, FBI and National City Police Department for their work on the case.
“This is a just sentence for a defendant whose dangerous actions caused significant damage,” he said.
ATF Los Angeles Field Division Acting Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Cicolani says the bureau is dedicated to stopping violent crimes involving the misuse of explosives.
“ATF remains vigilant about working with its partners to keep the public safe by investigating and perfecting charges against those who misuse explosives for greed and public destruction," she says.
