Woodbury Man Charged with Theft of ATM Machine

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has charged a Woodbury man with stealing an ATM machine from a Liberty business.
42 year old Alton David Estes of Parchcorn Road, Woodbury was arrested on Tuesday, October 13th and charged with vandalism, burglary, and theft of property over $1,000. Sheriff Patrick Ray says during an investigation, detectives learned that Estes went to the Stop and Buy Citgo in Liberty and broke the glass out of the front door. Estes hooked some kind of apparatus to the ATM machine which was located in the front of the store shopping area and then hooked the other end of the apparatus to his vehicle and pulled the top half of the ATM machine loose from lower half. The top half of the ATM machine was found in a nearby creek later that day. Estes was unable to obtain any money from the machine. Estes was arrested at his home after detectives looked at video of the vehicle and checked out a citizen’s tip of who owned an automobile like the one on the video. There was evidence that the ATM machine had been loaded into the back of Estes’ vehicle. Bond for Estes was set at $80,000 and he will appear in court on October 29th
On Wednesday, October 14th, deputies responded to an accident on Sparta Highway near Quail Point. Upon arrival, they talked with the driver of the vehicle, 33 year old Jimmy D. Walker of Camp Overton Road, Rock Island. Officers noticed a strong odor of alcohol on Walker’s person and he kept telling them he was in Warren County, not DeKalb County. Walker submitted to field sobriety tasks which he failed. Walker was arrested for a first offense of driving under the influence and his bond was set at $1,500. He was also issued citations for failure to maintain his lane of travel and violation of the implied consent law. He will appear in court on October 29th on all of the charges.
On Saturday, October 17th, 37 year old Joey Donald Howell of Page Drive Smithville was arrested for burglary and theft of property over $1,000. Detectives allege that on October 15th Howell went to a construction site on Back Bone Ridge Road and busted the glass out of a work truck that was setting on the premises. Howell then took a 16 inch circular saw, a chop saw, and two nail guns that were valued at over $1,000. Bond for Howell was set at $10,000 and he will appear in court on November 19th.
Also on Saturday, deputies saw 31 year old Jason Richard Skaroupka of Midway Road Smithville operating a motor vehicle on Terrell Road. An officer, having prior knowledge of Skaroupka’s driver’s license being revoked for being a habitual offender, stopped him and placed him under arrest for driving on a revoked driver’s license. This makes Skaroupka’s 7th offense of driving on a revoked license. Bond for Skaroupka was set at $10,000 and he will appear in court on October 29th.