Lakeside man charged in ATM burglary
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POLSON — Corey Robert Franklin of Lakeside was charged with felony theft in district court Feb. 13 for his alleged part in the heist of an automated teller machine from Community Bank.
Franklin’s record shows he has a previous conviction for burglary and was on probation in Kalispell.
In the early morning of Jan. 30, two men were filmed on a security video entering the bank vestibule three times between 2 and 6 a.m. wearing black clothing with masks over their faces. One man was wearing a Caterpillar brand hat. The suspects tipped over the ATM, used bolt cutters to sever the electrical cords, and then dragged it out the bank door, triggering an internal alarm and alerting the security company.
At about 8:40 a.m. a motorist discovered the ATM dumped along Montana Highway 28 north of Elmo. The ATM was scarred with cutting torch marks, burns and pry marks, possibly from a crow bar painted yellow. Authorities believe $24,000 was taken from the machine.
A tip led law enforcement to Franklin’s home in Lakeside. The Franklins own a maroon Dodge Durango, and that vehicle had been seen on security videos of attempted thefts of ATMs and car washes in Flathead County.
A Flathead County Sheriff’s Office detective drove by the home and observed a green Chevy Z71 pickup parked at the home. The vehicle had a fictitious Flathead County license plate on the back and a non-matching Yellowstone County plate on the front.
The detective obtained a search warrant and rendezvoused with Polson Police officers on Feb. 5 to search the Lakeside home. Neither Franklin nor his wife were home, and officers found tools similar to those in the ATM theft security video and a crow bar and bolt cutters with yellow paint on them.
While conducting the search, the officers learned Franklin was at a court hearing in Kalispell. Franklin agreed to speak with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, but later reneged. He was in possession of the green Chevy Z71 pickup truck, with the keys in his pocket. The pickup was impounded and processed at FCSO.
A Polson Police officer learned the pickup had been reported stolen from a local dealership.
The bed of the pickup had drag marks similar to the ones on the outside of the ATM.
Officers also found slag, consistent with use of a cutting torch; a small piece of gray plastic resembling the upper plastic cases of the ATM; and a broken drill bit.
Franklin’s bond was set for $150,000 and he remains in jail in Flathead County.
Law enforcement is continuing to search for Franklin’s accomplice.
