- Branden M. Best, 41, was arrested and accused of attempting to break into an ATM.
- The incident occurred April 26 at Mountain America Credit Union in Taylorsville.
- Best, out on bail in connection with a hit-and-run, has a long criminal history.
TAYLORSVILLE — A Magna man with a long criminal history, who is currently facing charges in a hit-and-run crash, has now been accused of trying to break into an ATM while out on bail.
Branden M. Best, 41, was arrested Wednesday for investigation of attempted theft, causing property damage and having a forged license plate.
Police say the incident happened on April 26 at Mountain America Credit Union, 5471 S. 4015 West, about 2 a.m.
"The suspect exits the vehicle and spray-paints over the ATM camera," a police booking affidavit states. "The remainder of the surveillance footage is viewable from the overhead camera. The suspect is seen utilizing a long screwdriver as a pry-bar to remove paneling from the ATM, then utilizing two different drills on the ATM. After not being able to access the contents of the ATM with the drills, the suspect gets into his vehicle and repositions it in the parking lot before using the rear of the vehicle to ram the ATM twice before leaving."
The vehicle seen in the video was located by police the next day in the Kearns area.
"I removed the temporary license plate and found that it expired in 1997 and found that this temporary license plate was a full piece of common printer paper," the arresting officer wrote.
Despite that, detectives were able to trace the vehicle back to Best and gathered additional evidence from a prior arrest linking him to the attempted ATM theft, including identifying tattoos on his wrist.
The incident with the ATM came less than a week after Best posted bail in another case, according to court records.
Charging documents state that on March 21, Best rear-ended another vehicle near 8450 W. 3100 South and fled. Unified police were able to track Best back to his home.
"In a records check, it was revealed that Best had active warrants and a suspended license. In a search incident to being impounded, officers found a Demun crossbow with arrows and a homemade metal crossbow with arrows in Best's vehicle," according to the charges.
He was charged in that case with two counts of being a restricted person in possession of a weapon, a third-degree felony; failing to remain at the scene of an accident involving injury, a class A misdemeanor; and driving on a denied license, a class C misdemeanor.
Best posted bond in that case on April 20. He allegedly tried to break into the ATM six days later.
Best also has separate burglary and fleeing cases currently pending in district court. His criminal history dates back to at least 2004, when he was convicted of drug possession with intent to distribute, according to court records.
