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James Bagarozzo |
(Scroll down for video) A man was arrested and charged with theft related charges after he was caught stealing coins from parking meters, according to police reports in New York.
Buffalo Police said that a man has stolen $210,000.
James Bagarozzo worked as a parking meter repairman and manipulated about 1,200 machines in the Buffalo area. The man made sure that the coins deposited into the meter do not drop into the metal container.
Bagarozzo would then take the money home in bags hidden in his pants during a period of eight years. He later exchanged the coins for bills.
FBI investigators found more than 150,000 quarters in his home, with more than 100,000 quarters hidden inside a ceiling.
The bank said that employees never questioned the man because he said that his friend is in the vending machine business.
"When he went to work, half of his day was spent rob the city. He developed such a good relationship with the bank tellers that he was eventually given special boxes, which held exactly $500 in quarters. He went to the bank several times a week with a $500 box," Special Agent Rob Gross, who investigated the case, said.
Bagarozzo, who said he began stealing the money after worrying about how he would support his sick daughter, has been jailed for two years.
His former colleague, Lawrence Charles, who stole $15,000, has also been arrested.