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OREM — A man was arrested after he allegedly robbed a woman at a credit union ATM.
Around 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 1, a woman drove up to the ATM at the Utah Community Credit Union at 305 W. 800 North and noticed a man standing in the parking lot, Orem Police Department said.
Though she thought it was odd, due to the holiday closure of the credit union, she continued to wait in line with two other cars at the ATM. As she was making her transaction, the man walked toward her, coming up to her driver’s side window between her car and the ATM and pointing a black handgun at her head, Lt. Craig Martinez said. He told her to withdraw money.
She complied, handing him her money. Before fleeing west on foot toward Family Dollar, he took her car keys and cell phone, according to police.
The woman found her car keys in the snow and used a passerby’s cell phone and alerted police to the robbery.
Officers responded, searching the area. They found a backpack, black gloves hoodie and gun matching the description of those worn and used during the robbery. Police said the gun was a black airsoft gun with electrical tape placed over the orange tip. The victim's wallet and credit cards, as well as heroin paraphernalia were found in the backpack.
It doesn't matter if it's real or not, if they make inference to having a weapon or even something in a pocket that appears to a gun, that's the only thing that matters.
–Lt. Craig Martinez
“Obviously, the woman thought it was a real gun,” Martinez said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s real or not, if they make inference to having a weapon or even something in a pocket that appears to a gun, that’s the only thing that matters.”
A further search by investigators led to the discovery of footprints in the snow and drug paraphernalia in the bathroom of a nearby Family Dollar Store that police believed belonged to the man, according the report.
On Jan. 7, detectives and Adult Probation and Parole agents located Michael David Taylor, 35, of Cedar Hills, at the home of a friend. The house was located just a couple of blocks from the credit union, Martinez said.
When police arrested Taylor at his friend's house, he had seven bindles of heroin in his pocket, the report stated.
Taylor was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery, possession of heroin, possession of drug paraphernalia and being a sex offender and failing to register his new address.
According to the Utah Sex Offender Registry, Taylor was convicted in 2003 of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony.
He was convicted in 2012 of an amended charge of attempting to fail to register as a sex offender, according to court records.
He pleaded no contest to child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury, in 2012, and theft in 2003, according to court records. He has been booked into the Utah County Jail 12 times since 2001.
Martinez said crimes like this don’t happen very often but warned that they do occasionally take place, and reminded people to be cautious when using an ATM. He said to look for a well-lit parking lot at night and watch for people lingering. He told people to drive away if someone makes you uncomfortable. He also recommended to pull close to the ATM, leaving little to no room between your car and the machine, lock all doors, and only unroll the window enough to make the transaction.
Taylor is currently being held at the Utah County Jail on $25,000 bail.
