BOWIE COUNTY, Texas - A Houston man has been charged with a felony in connection with the theft of cash in February from an ATM in Wake Village.
Corde Deandre St. Jules, 19, allegedly had a large number of new $20 dollar bills stuffed in his pants when he was stopped in Queen City, Texas, by local police and state troopers while driving a red Camaro matching the description given to police by a witness, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Wake Village police responded to an ATM alarm in the 5100 block of W. 7th Street shortly after 5 a.m. Feb. 2. When officers arrived, they found a white Ford F-250 truck backed up to the ATM with a chain connecting it to the front of the machine, which was lying on its side on the ground.
A yellow crowbar, a chain with two J hooks and a styrofoam cup with some coffee left in it were found at the scene. Investigators determined that three of the machine's four cash drawers were missing. The pickup was determined to have been stolen from a motel parking lot in Texarkana, Texas.
While police were still at the scene of the theft, a Texarkana, Texas, investigator contacted Wake Village investigators about a red Camaro which had been stopped as it traveled south on U.S. Highway 59 by Queen City police and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.
St. Jules was allegedly driving the Camaro and allegedly gave a fictitious name to law enforcement. Todd Aultman of Wake Village Police Department and Texas Ranger Josh Mason interviewed St. Jules at the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
"St. Jules acted as if he wanted to cooperate but wanted a guarantee he would go home today," the affidavit states.
The bills found in St. Jules' pants were allegedly brand new, uncirculated currency with sequential serial numbers.
"There have been multiple ATM thefts fitting this method of operation in the Northeast Texas region over the past few weeks. Information from other thefts have concluded the suspects were gang members from Houston, Texas," the affidavit states.
St. Jules has been charged with theft of property and faces two to 20 years in prison. Bowie County court records indicate that St. Jules' bond on the theft charge is set at $100,000 and that he is being held on a Texas parole violation.