Jonesboro man accused of using forklift to steal ATM in S.C.

Nathan Eric Thomas of Jonesboro is accused of stealing an ATM in South Carolina. (Chester County Sheriff’s Office)

Nathan Eric Thomas of Jonesboro is accused of stealing an ATM in South Carolina. (Chester County Sheriff’s Office)

A Jonesboro man has been arrested in South Carolina for allegedly using a stolen forklift to make off with an ATM.

Nathan Eric Thomas, 48, was charged with safe cracking, theft and vandalism by the Chester County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators believe that Thomas and another man stole the JCB Loadall forklift and then used it to scoop up an ATM at Founders Credit Union on the J.A. Cochran Bypass on Friday in Chester, S.C.

They put the ATM in the back of a truck and made off down Old Richburg Road, according to the arrest warrant for Thomas.

Thomas and his partner apparently didn’t realize the ATM contained a GPS tracking device, authorities said. The device allowed deputies to zero in on the moving truck, according to the incident report.

After the two men in the truck realized they were being followed, they lost control of the 2011 Dodge 1500 and crashed in a ditch, the report said.

The two men fled in the woods, a tracking dog was called for and Thomas was arrested later that day, the report said.