Leader in string of ATM thefts appearing in court, police say crew used Jaws of Life to steal $1M
According to investigators, 30-year-old Scott Rhodes and three other suspects were involved in the theft of multiple ATMs and the subsequent damages done to the buildings.
The crew was linked to at least four instances as far back as Oct. 9, 2024, according to court documents.
King County Prosecutors said Rhodes was allegedly involved in the following:
Oct. 9, 2024 - The crew allegedly used the Jaws of Life to rip an ATM from a Wells Fargo at 3310 W McGraw Street in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood. They made off with $322,000 and caused nearly $80,000 in damage to the building, including the cost of replacing the ATM.
There were two instances of theft on Oct. 7 that were linked to the group. Rhodes allegedly was only involved in the previously mentioned incident.
Dec. 26, 2024 - The crew used Jaws of Life and a torch to pry open an ATM at a Wells Fargo at 8551 Greenwood Ave. N in Seattle. They made off with about $194,670 from the ATM.
Jan. 27, 2024 - Prosecutors Rhodes stole a construction excavator from a nearby construction site and crashed it into the BECU bank at 4319 Stone Way N in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood. They were able to access two ATMs that were housed inside the unlocked lobby of the building. One of the ATMs had about $101,000 cash in it. The other ATM was abandoned but was still attached to the excavator. Damages were about $500,000 to the building.
All of these thefts were committed using Jaws of Life to break open the ATMs and safes. This is a tool that the everyday person does not have access to. It is used primarily by first responders to cut open severely damaged vehicles to get victims or patients out.
Rhodes was arrested on Feb. 19 in an operation aimed at catching and arresting the other suspects involved. Three of those suspects all had outstanding warrants that were unrelated to the alleged ATM thefts, according to court documents.
Seattle Police, King County Sheriff's deputies , Kent Police, an FBI agent and King County SWAT Team all responded to try and arrest Rhodes. He was found inside a parked car in Edgewood, and when he realized what was happening, he crawled out of the sunroof, dropped a large bag of what appears to be cocaine, and ran off, according to charging documents.
A K-9 with the sheriff's office caught up to him and bit him, allowing Rhodes to be arrested.
Rhodes was also charged with first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, first-degree rape and second-degree assault for an unrelated incident on Dec. 12, 2024.
Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $2 million for Rhodes 'due to the facts of this case including the defendant's access to large amounts of cash, as well as flight concerns as the defendant is a suspect in recent crimes in Oregon,' court documents said.
Prosecutors also say that Rhodes is 'likely to commit a violent offense' and that he has a 'past record of committing offenses while on pretrial release, probation or parole.'
A judge set bail at $250,000.
He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
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