Prison Sentence for Man Attempting Blow Torch Break-In at CU

A trained welder will spend five and a half years in federal prison after he used a blow torch and other power tools while attempting to break into an ATM, a deposit box, a teller window and an exterior door that sparked a fire, causing nearly $200,000 in damages to the Tumwater, Wash., branch of the $613 million O Bee Credit Union.

During a court hearing last month, U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle in Tacoma, Wash., also ordered Randall Taufete’e, 34, to pay $198,018 in restitution and three years of supervised release following his 66-month prison term, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle.

He pleaded guilty to arson and attempted larceny of a federally insured credit union earlier this year.

On Oct. 24, 2022, Tumwater firefighters responded to a fire alarm at O Bee. When they arrived at the scene, they observed flames shooting up from the top of the ATM machine that was embedded into the wall of the building. The flames were extinguished but smoke had filled the branch.

Following the fire, investigators found char and pry marks on the ATM, on the night deposit box, the drive-thru window and an exterior door, court documents showed.

Surveillance video showed two men using a pry bar, an electric saw and an oxyacetylene welder’s torch to try to open the ATM and gain access to the credit union’s branch. Because they generate the most intense heat compared to other blow torches, oxyacetylene torches produce the highest flame temperatures, which sparked the O Bee branch fire.

A few days after the incident, Taufete’e was taken into state custody for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators then identified him as one of the men in the surveillance video.

Taufete’e and codefendant Brandon Ronald Collado were indicted in January 2023. Collado pleaded guilty in June 2023 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors asked Judge Settle to impose a 92-month sentence, noting that Taufete’e has more than a dozen criminal convictions as an adult, running the gamut from theft to assault, to robbery, burglary and firearms possession.

READ MORE: Prosecutor’s Memo to Judge  (evidence photos included)