Vending machine vandalism increases in Athens

by Yosuke Takanashi
Staff Writer

Although a vending machine company said vandalism to machines is not very common, local law enforcement agencies sometimes have their hands full with snack and soda thieves.

Suspects in a vending machine vandalism case in Riverpark Towers Apartments two weeks ago have not been found yet.

Barbara Good, secretary of Good Vending, 21 W. State St, said a soda machine and a snack machine were damaged, leaving metal objects on the machines' buttons.

"We are trying to figure out who could be doing it," she said. "(We will) put up a reward for any information on who was doing this.

"It doesn’t happen often," she said. "In 20 years we’ve been in business, we may have lost three machines."

Good said all vending machines have been removed from the apartment buildings.

Riverpark officials declined to comment.

If a person is convicted of vandalizing vending machines, he or she faces a 60-day jail sentence and up to a $750 fine. Vandalizing machines is a second-degree misdemeanor, said David Baer, managing attorney at the Center for Student Advocacy at Ohio University.

When items are taken from a vending machine, it is a first-degree misdemeanor. A person faces up to six months in jail or a maximum fine of $1,000.

OU Police Department Lt. Travis Potts said OUPD received 11 reports of damage to vending machines on campus in 2000, causing $520 total property loss.

"When somebody damages on a machine, they take the food out of it," Potts said. "Usually no money is stolen from the machine because the box is sealed."

Potts said it sometimes is difficult to find suspects.

"What we do is we fingerprint the machine because somebody kicks it in with their foot and they have to pull the glass out to reach and get things," he said.

There were 209 vandalism incidents reported in 2000, including broken windows and damage to automobiles. In 26 of those incidents, OUPD found the person or people who vandalized the property. OU lost $35,284 from the vandalism, but recovered $4,645 in restitution.

"Vandalism is just a disrespect for people’s property," Potts said. "In the long run, vandalism affects all of us because we have a substantial property loss, (and) somebody has to pay to fix things."

Athens Police Department does not have specific information on vending machine vandalism.