San Diego Man Charged with Using Explosives to Burglarize ATMs 

August 26, 2024 – SAN DIEGO, CA – Son Nguyen of San Diego was arrested on Friday, August 23, 2024, and charged in federal court with two counts of damaging property in connection with using explosives on two ATMs.

Nguyen, who unsuccessfully attempted to steal money from the machines, was tracked through surveillance video, vehicle registration and facial features, the complaint said. He was taken into custody by the FBI at his Mira Mesa residence and is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court Monday.

According to the complaint, at approximately 3:24 a.m. on June 8, 2024, Nguyen drove up to an ATM outside of California Coast Credit Union on Governor Drive in San Diego. Nguyen got out of his car and brought a five-gallon blue plastic container with a white spout to the area in front of the ATM. He then appeared to insert a black polyvinyl chloride plastic (“PVC”) hose into the ATM. A short time later, a small explosion occurred inside the ATM. Despite efforts to pull money out of the machine, Nguyen left empty handed.

San Diego Police officers responded to an alarm at the credit union and observed a white PVC pipe connected to a black PVC pipe with two batteries taped to it. They also observed pieces of what looked like a blue balloon around the ATM.  Approximately 20 feet from the ATM was another plastic pipe. 

According to the complaint, a few weeks later, at approximately 2:10 a.m. on June 28, 2024, Nguyen drove up to another ATM in Rancho Bernardo outside of a First Citizen’s Bank branch in San Diego. He then repeated the same steps. After electrical components caught fire and smoke started coming out of the ATM, Nguyen returned and attempted to extract cash from the machine but was unsuccessful.

Investigators used surveillance camera video to track the defendant and his vehicle. While serving a court-authorized search warrant at Nguyen’s home, investigators found gas, black powder, potassium nitrate sulfur, explosive pre-cursor chemicals, a paper that explains how to make black powder and a firearm in Nguyen’s residence, among other equipment and clothing items consistent with those used during the attempts.

“Fortunately, neither of these incidents resulted in injury or successful theft of cash,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “With the discovery of chemicals and equipment in the search today, future attempts were also thwarted.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Sherwood and Shital Thakkar.

DEFENDANT                                           Case Number                         24-mj-03215

Son Thanh Nguyen                                  Age: 44                                    San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Use of an Explosive to Damage Property – 18 U.S.C., Section 844(i)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

San Diego Police Department

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad

City of San Diego’s Hazmat Team

A complaint itself is not evidence that the defendant committed the crimes charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the Government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Source: DOJ Release