Call it the holiday's token bizarro incident: according to Florida Today, a 23-year-old man who told police he punched a Wells Fargo ATM because it gave him too much cash, was arrested after bank officials said the attack caused at least $5,000 in damages, which elevated the inexplicable and idiotic temper tantrum into a felony crime.
Michael Oleksik, 23, 5'11", 155lbs, of Rockledge, FL; charges: Criminal mischief >$1000.
Cocoa police charged Michael Joseph Oleksik, of Merritt Island, on Friday with criminal mischief nearly a month into the investigation of a disturbance at the Wells Fargo bank branch at 834 N. Cocoa Boulevard, in Cocoa. According to authorities, Oleksik could be seen on surveillance video standing at the ATM, pummeling the electronic teller’s touch screen on Nov. 29.
A short time later, an apologetic Oleksik called the bank and told a manager that he punched the ATM because he was "angry the ATM was giving him too much money and he did not know what to do," Florida Today reported. Oleksik then explained that he was in a hurry for work and apologized for the damage to the bank's ATM.
While Oleksik's behavior may appear irrational at first glance, a quick look at his arrest record, which reveals not only domestic violence charges, but also disorderly drug intoxication and resisting and intimidating a police officer, and suddenly his vendetta with the ATM makes sense.
Wells Fargo - clearly distraught at the treatment one of its ATM machines was subjected to - contacted the Cocoa Police Department and asked to press charges. Oleksik was arrested Friday and booked into the Brevard County Jail Complex in Sharpes.