Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Joshua James Mangum faces 15 charges for multiple thefts and property damage incidents.
- He allegedly used a stolen tractor to break into ATMs, causing significant damage.
- Mangum reportedly committed these crimes across several Utah cities over three months.
TAYLORSVILLE — A Taylorsville man who police say stole a tractor, and then used it to break into an ATM is now facing charges in multiple cases.
Joshua James Mangum, 42, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of property damage and two counts of theft, second-degree felonies; burglary, a third-degree felony; drug possession, a class A misdemeanor; and trespassing, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.
On Tuesday, Mangum was charged with two counts of causing property damage, a second-degree felony and a third-degree felony; two counts of burglary, a third-degree felony; and two counts of theft, a class A misdemeanor and a class B misdemeanor. The charges come a day after he was arrested in another burglary case.
He now faces a total of nine felony charges and six misdemeanors.
On Dec. 5, Mangum went to Holiday Oil, 3436 S. 2300 East, in Millcreek, cut the power to the building and broke into an ATM, taking about $1,000, according to charging documents. Investigators say he caused about $8,500 in damage to the store, including the window frame.
"Officers also discovered that nearby Roots Café, 3437 S. 2300 East, had also been burglarized after the unknown suspect, later identified as Joshua James Mangum, used a pry bar to bend the door frame and entered the business while it was closed. Mangum stole approximately $150 worth of cash from the petty cash drop envelope," charging documents state.
Mangum is also accused of causing about $2,800 in damage to the cafe.
On Monday, Mangum was arrested in connection with an ATM theft on Dec. 22 at another Holiday Oil, 6189 S. 3200 West, in Taylorsville.
In that case, Mangum "cut the power to the business, hopped the fence and stole a CAT front-loader tractor from a construction site across the street, used the stolen tractor to drive into the business doors and windows, stole an ATM valued at $2,772.41 from inside the business, drove through a fence belonging to Taylorsville City, and took $2,660.00 cash out of the stolen ATM," according to charging documents,
Police reviewed surveillance video and watched as Mangum drove the tractor up a hill just after midnight, parked it and waited for employees of the gas station to leave about 40 minutes later, a police affidavit states. "The suspect walks around the rear of the building to the south side where the power box is ultimately turned off."
Damage to the store is estimated at more than $28,000, the charges state, and the damage to a fence he drove through to get the tractor was nearly $8,000.
Investigators recognized Mangum in the video as a man wanted in burglaries in Taylorsville, West Jordan, Kearns and Millcreek "and is responsible for thousands of dollars of damage and stolen currency from those burglaries," the affidavit alleges.
Detectives used facial recognition technology to identify a possible suspect, according to the affidavit, and then talked to witnesses and collected driver's license information to confirm it was Mangum. They then tracked him down and made the arrest.
"Joshua, over the course of three months, has demonstrated his lack of concern for the property of others as he severely damaged strangers' property in several cities along the Salt Lake Valley … in what he claimed was to obtain narcotics to feed his addiction," the affidavit says.
