Enterprising Utah burglars use vacuum to suck coins out of machine

Cottonwood Heights police Wednesday morning arrested two enterprising burglars who used a powerful vacuum cleaner to successfully suck coins out of a coin-operated machine.

Police Sgt. Gary Young said the men, 55 and 53, were at a coin-operated business at 1859 E. Fort Union Blvd. about 4:30 a.m. when a police officer spotted them.

As the officer pulled in, the men pulled out.

When the officer pulled the men over, he realized they had used black electrical tape to change a "D" to a "B" to prevent anyone from accurately phoning in their license plate, Young said.

The officer also spotted a fairly powerful shop vacuum rigged to a power inverter inside, Young said.

The officer determined the men had used the cleaner to successfully suck coins out of the machine, though he wasn't sure how much the men had stolen.

He said officers are looking into whether anyone has reported similar thefts.

"It's not a common method stealing from coin-operated machines," Young said.

The men were arrested on suspicion of theft, altered registration and possession of drug paraphernalia.

jstecklein@sltrib.com

Twitter: @sltribjanelle