Serial coin thief takes police to the cleaners
Hamburg man accused in washer coin box thefts
A Hamburg police officer with a keen eye helped nab a suspected serial coin thief believed to have targeted dozens of washing machines and dryers at apartment complexes from Western New York to the suburbs of Rochester, police announced Wednesday.
The suspect, identified by police as Kevin M. Tysiac, 35, of Clifton Parkway in Hamburg, “was driving us crazy out here,” said a relieved Hamburg Police Chief Carmen R. Kesner.
Hamburg police first began hearing about the thefts in late January, said Detective Lt. Kevin A. Trask. Someone was stealing the change boxes right from the washing machines in the laundry rooms of apartment complexes. The reports were coming in every few weeks.
“There was no evidence, no witnesses or anything like that,” Trask recounted. “We really didn’t have any leads.”
Police thought the coin thief was hitting the laundry rooms overnight, but they couldn’t be sure because the thefts weren’t reported right away.
“It was hard to pinpoint,” Trask said. Police were stumped.
“We were kind of confounded,” Trask said. “We were having guys staking out apartment complexes and everything.”
After about 15 apartment complexes were targeted over a period of several months across Hamburg, Orchard Park police began receiving similar complaints.
Then, Orchard Park had a coin box burglary in the middle of the day.
“They had a few witnesses who saw a black pickup truck with a red cap,” Trask said. “That was kind of an odd color combination.”
The description of the pickup was sent out in an e-mail to all police officers in the department.
Officer Jason M. Nappo, who read the e-mail alert, was on patrol June 13 when he noticed a truck that matched the description traveling east on Route 5. Nappo was on a traffic stop at the time on the westbound side of Route 5 near Hamburg Town Park.
Nappo managed to catch up with the pickup and followed the vehicle to the Eaglecrest Mobile Home Park.
The officer approached the driver, Tysiac, and struck up a casual conversation with him. He learned Tysiac’s name before letting him go about his business. He then checked Tysiac’s name and the license plate and learned that his driver’s license had been suspended in March and that the car wasn’t registered in his name.
When Tysiac came back out, Nappo arrested him on the suspended-license charge and brought him to the police station.
Tysiac was searched, and police said they found a small key, which appeared to fit the washers and dryers that were broken into, along with $7 in quarters. His car was seized and searched. Inside, police said, they found tools along with eight white coin boxes, receipts from Home Depot showing he had been in Batavia and Rochester, and a note listing addresses of apartment complexes in Western New York and Rochester.
Detectives said Tysiac admitted to a slew of burglaries in Hamburg and Orchard Park. He was given a appearance ticket to return June 22.
In the meantime, investigators began exploring other possible burglaries, said Detective Todd J. Ehret. They sent a message to area law enforcement agencies and heard back from several.
Tysiac returned voluntarily last Thursday and gave a videotaped admission of guilt. In all, police said, he had stolen coin boxes from apartments in Hamburg, Orchard Park, West Seneca, Cheektowaga, Lancaster, the Town of Tonawanda and Amherst, as well as three Rochester suburbs.
The thefts in Hamburg and Orchard Park alone had netted him about $10,000 and cost almost that much in damage to the laundry room machines, police said. It is not yet known how much more he gained from his alleged thefts.
Detectives had first assumed that the burglaries were the work of a drug addict desperate for cash. However, Trask said, “it appears this guy is just a down-on-his-luck guy.”
Tysiac told investigators that he was unemployed, had been out on at least 20 job interviews and was trying to support himself and his four children through the coin theft scheme, Ehret said.
“He’s really not a bad guy,” Ehret said. “He’s a criminal, but not a bad guy.”
Tysiac apparently had been employed at an apartment complex four or five years ago and had learned how to work on the washing machines.
He has been charged with second-degree burglary and fourth-degree possession of burglary tools. But more charges are pending. His next appearance in court is scheduled for Tuesday.
Tysiac declined to comment.
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