Man accused in ATM smashing spree

A serial ATM smasher is facing felony charges, according to court documents.

A serial ATM smasher is facing felony charges, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged 26-year-old Justin S. McArthur in Island County Superior Court Oct. 25 with three counts of malicious mischief in the second degree and one count of malicious mischief in the third degree. If convicted of the charges against him, he could face from a year to 14 months in prison under the standard sentencing range.

On July 9, a deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to a commercial alarm at the Freeland Cannabis business after a window was shattered and also found the window on a nearby U-Haul truck was broken out. A deputy identified McArthur as a possible suspect but was unable to arrest him at the time, according to a deputy’s report.

Later in the morning, another deputy investigated a report that someone had smashed the screen of an ATM at Chase Bank in Freeland. He also discovered smashed ATMs at the Wells Fargo and the US Bank.

Videos and still images from the cash-dispensing machines showed McArthur whacking them with a flashlight and wrench, the report states. The cost of fixing one of the ATMs was an estimated $3,000.

On the same day, McArthur was arrested in Oak Harbor after throwing a rock through the window of a Wells Fargo Bank on Pioneer Way, according to court documents. He was also accused of resisting arrest and assaulting two officers in a chaotic scene in the roadway, a police report states.

In that case, he was charged with two counts of assault in the third degree, resisting arrest and malicious mischief in the third degree.

A judge had ordered that a mental health professional with the Department of Corrections evaluate McArthur to determine if he is mentally competent to stand trial. The evaluator determined that he did not understand what was happening in the legal proceedings due to his paranoid ideation and intrusive psychotic symptoms. As a result, the judge ordered him to be sent to a facility for competency restoration.