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Judge in Ellis Co. finds enough evidence for trial of alleged ATM thief

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

An Ellis County man was bound over for trial Thursday in connection with the theft of an ATM at Cerv’s in west Hays in March.

On Nov. 9, Stelieh Jordan Stegmeier was charged with three felonies for allegedly breaking into the Cerv’s location at 2722 Hall, using a chain and a vehicle to rip the ATM from the floor and then making off with the machine. Stegmeier was charged with non-residential burglary, theft and criminal damage to property – all felonies.

At Thursday’s hearing, Ellis County Assistant Attorney Chris Lyon presented the state’s case and Magistrate Judge Richard Flax determined there was enough evidence for Stegmeier to stand trial.

In the early morning hours of March 22, Hays Police were called to the Cerv’s location in west Hays after an employee showed up for work and found a back window had been broken out, according to Russ Pfannenstiel, owner of Cerv’s.

Pfannenstiel testified Thursday that when he arrived at the Hall Street Cerv’s around 6 a.m., he saw the broken window and the floor was damaged where an ATM had been secured. Pfannenstiel then watched the surveillance video from security cameras located inside the business to determine what had happened.

In the video, a person, wearing some sort of black suit with a hood and their face covered, breaks the window out and then is seen wrapping a chain or rope around the ATM, then signaling outside. The ATM is then ripped from the floor and the person helps move the ATM outside.

Detective Jeff Ridgeway is handling the case for the Hays Police Department and testified Thursday that he looked at the surveillance video with Pfannenstiel and they determined the incident happened at approximately 1:30 a.m. March 22. Ridgeway said the video’s timestamp said the incident occurred at 1:08 a.m., but they determined the time on the system was off by approximately 20 minutes.


Surveillance video of the March Cerv’s robbery

Ridgeway also testified that during the investigation it was suggested that they talk with Dan Hess, owner of Hess Services, about the black suit the suspect was wearing in the video.

Hess said during Thursday’s hearing he believed the suit was similar to white disposable Tyvek suits his painters wear while painting equipment. Hess said the suits they buy are white but surmised the one in the video was painted black, because it appeared there were some white areas showing. Although he said there could be other companies in the area that have similar suits, and that it is difficult to tell if Hess Services had any missing suits. Ridgeway said the suit used in the incident has not been located.

Hess said Stegmeier used to work for him as a painter and that he currently employs approximately 20 painters.

The ATM taken from Cerv’s was later located northwest of Hays. Hays PD Investigator Aaron Larson testified the ATM was located by the property owner at 2341 Hyacinth Avenue, approximately 75 yards off the roadway.

Larson said when the landowner found the ATM it appeared to have been left by a vehicle in a wooded area close to an oil drilling site. It appeared to have been intentionally covered with a tree branch.

He said the ATM was damaged and looked as if it was ripped or cut open. The cash box was opened and the money gone. Pfannenstiel said it cost $3,400 to replace the ATM that was stolen and it had $2,780 in cash in it when it was taken.

While investigating a number of other thefts in Ellis County, Sheriff’s Detective Asher White interviewed Kelly Wren at the Montgomery County jail. Wren was arrested June 21 in rural Coffeyville after getting into a high-speed chase with law enforcement there. He and another man were arrested on multiple charges including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

According to testimony from White, Wren was a welder at Hess Services with Stegmeier, and Stegmeier had told Wren he had always wanted to take an ATM.

Wren also told White that he believed the man in the video was Stegmeier because of his mannerisms and what the suspect was wearing. Wren also allegedly asked Stegmeier if he had stolen an ATM, to which Stegmeier “just laughed,” according to White.

Because of the information Wren provided to authorities, he was given immunity from several charges he was facing in Ellis County, according to White.

White was also contacted by an inmate, who passed a note to a law enforcement official in the Ellis County jail, claiming he had information about the stolen ATM.

Lance Schmeidler allegedly reached out to White looking to exchange information for a deal in relation to charges he was facing.

White said Schmeidler told him, on two separate occasions – one time under oath in a sworn deposition – that Schmeidler was smoking “dope” – methamphetamine – with Stegmeier, Anna Zimmerman and two other people he did not know when Stegmeier told them that he had taken the ATM and that money was not a problem for him.

Stegmeier also allegedly told them he dumped the ATM “in the country.”

Both Larson and White said they did not believe authorities released the location of the ATM to the media or made it public.

White did not know if the deal with Schmeidler ever panned out.

Wren and Schmeidler are both in the Ellis County jail and were available to testify to the conversations they had with White but were never called on.

Olavee Raub represented Stegmeier in the matter.

Zimmerman is also in the Ellis County jail, although officials did not interview her.

After determining there was enough evidence to hold Stegmeier over for trial, Judge Flax scheduled a pre-trial conference for Jan. 9 in Ellis County District Court.

Stegmeier is currently facing charges in three other cases in Ellis County. He is currently being held in the Ellis County jail.

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