San Jose Man Charged With String of ATM Burglaries

<p>A San Jose man has been charged with 20 commercial burglaries&comma; in which he and accomplices often used a saw to break into and cart away entire cash-filled ATMs from businesses&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Charles Edward Hastings has also been charged with committing multiple acts of felony vandalism in connection with the burglaries&period; These crimes occurred in six different cities across Santa Clara County&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Earlier this month&comma; he is believed to have forced entry into the American Legion Hall in Santa Clara&period; Hastings and his accomplices cut into an ATM with a cordless saw&period; They stole &dollar;10&comma;800 from the ATM and a donation box containing eyeglasses for veterans&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Hastings&comma; 42&comma; is in custody without bail&period; He will be arraigned on February 16&comma; 2022&comma; at 1&colon;30 PM in Department 23 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose&period; If convicted&comma; he faces incarceration&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Property crimes can be as traumatic and destructive as violent crimes&comma;” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;All residents of Santa Clara County – including those who victimize us – should know this&colon; You will never be below our radar&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Hastings and his accomplices repeatedly broke into closed establishments between October 31&comma; 2021 and February 3&comma; 2022&period; Hastings has also been charged with burglarizing multiple stores and taking high-end items&comma; such as jewelry&comma; guitars&comma; and bicycles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Hastings was identified and arrested following an investigation led by San Jose Police Department Detective Thanh Tong&period; Detective Tong worked closely with SJPD’s Financial Crimes and Burglary Prevention units&period; Also involved in the investigation was Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and the following police departments&colon; Campbell&comma; Los Gatos-Monte Sereno&comma; Palo Alto&comma; and Santa Clara&period; Law enforcement linked Hastings to the crimes via his consistent modus operandi&comma; the use of his vehicle at every burglary&comma; and surveillance footage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The estimated value of items and money taken by Hastings is &dollar;189&comma;654&period; The estimated cost to repair the damage inflicted by Hastings is &dollar;65&comma;200&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;