http://nypost.com/2015/02/19/cops-catch-sticky-fingered-gumball-banditHe was like a kid in a candy store.
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Jason Bietch
Photo: Facebook
Cops busted a “gumball bandit” who left a trail of disappointed children around The Bronx by stealing as many as 100 coin-operated gumball machines.
Jason Bietch’s sweet-tooth spree went sour on Feb. 5, when he was caught allegedly trying to carry off a 75-pound gumball machine from a Wash & Dry in Parkchester.
“I was tending to the customers, and I saw a guy running out with the machine,” the employee said. “I chased him and he told me, ‘I’m going to bring it back.’ ”
The thief managed to escape with the machine. But his attempt to pose as a gumball machine repairman failed because the employee knew he didn’t work for Great American Vending, which restocked the machine each month.
Cops talked to officials at Great American and discovered that at least 100 of their gumball machines had recently vanished from stores around the area.
The candy trail eventually led to Bietch, who allegedly was seen on surveillance video and whose license plate was spotted on a car at the Wash & Dry.
The Scarsdale resident was busted at a probation meeting Thursday in White Plains. He is facing numerous charges of grand and petit larceny. He was also linked to an October 2014 heist of a $1,500 candy dispenser from another Laundromat, on Bainbridge Avenue in The Bronx, according to police sources.
It’s not clear how much money he got from swiping the coin-filled machines, but sources believe he was reselling them to feed his drug habit. A possible accomplice was also in custody Thursday, but has not been charged. Bietch was arrested twice in 2014, once for aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and a few months later for possession of heroin.
“He’s not the brightest guy,” said a police source. “He thought they would be easy scores, but he didn’t count on the cameras.”
