Lake Orion police are convinced that Todd Lloyd Griffin was stealing money from dozens, if not hundreds of vending machines. Chances are, however, that they won’t get an opportunity to prove most of it.
Griffin, 39, of Oxford, turned himself in last week and was charged with three counts, including receiving and concealing stolen property, a one-year misdemeanor.
He was also charged with two counts of possessing controlled substances (cocaine, a four-year felony, and analogs, a two-year felony).
The charges stemmed from a Dec. 26 incident at the TCF Bank on Broadway. Griffin was attempting to turn a large stack of $1 bills ($851 according to an LOPD report) into larger bills.
When a teller asked Griffin about the stack of $1, police say he became irate. That’s when the bank manager called police and Griffin left the scene.
He was located by police a few businesses north of the bank.
‘He stated that he saves dollar bills all year and cashes them in at the end,? Police Chief Jerry Narsh recalled.
Griffin agreed to a search, at which point a large amount of pills, cocaine and a cocaine snorter were discovered, according to police. Griffin was arrested for drug possession.
‘He had these items in his pockets, but the $1 bills were not consistent with the sale of the narcotics,? Narsh said. ‘We didn’t know why he had all these small bills.?
When they returned to the bank, police discovered ‘official-looking? Pepsi and Coca-Cola uniforms in plain view in the back of Griffin’s car.
Later interviews with bank staff brought to light similar incidents in the past, where Griffin cashed in a large amount of $1 bills. One teller said Griffin claimed to own vending machines, but he denied this when talking to police.
A search warrant revealed that Griffin had somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 different keys to vending machines, including a handful of electronic keys.
He also had bill changers, cash boxes, cash counters and other items consistent with running a vending machine operation. The only problem was he didn’t own any vending machines, according to police.
‘This was good, basic police work,? Narsh said. ‘When all of these keys were recovered, we realized there is a strong possibility he was doing this at many machines in the area.?
Narsh said information on Griffin’s operation was sent to law enforcement agencies throughout the state.
‘It was a very difficult case to investigate because there are many private vendors,? he noted.
Narsh said it’s possible, if not likely, that innocent people lost their jobs because amounts in area vending machines didn’t correlate to the number of products sold.
Finally, police caught a break, when they learned of vending machine keys reported stolen outside of a Kroger in Toledo. That break, however, only resulted in a misdemeanor charge.
‘It’s clear. He had a whole stack of $1 bills,? Narsh said. ‘The problem is that we can’t prove the identity of a lot of the equipment. But we believe this is all stolen equipment.?
Narsh added that anyone with missing equipment of this nature should contact the Lake Orion Police Department.
In the meantime, Griffin was arraigned in 52-3 district court last Thursday and held at the Oakland County Jail.
He has other outstanding charges against him, stemming from an alleged theft of thousands of dollars of computer equipment at Clarkston High School during a wrestling tournament on Feb. 2.
A man believed to be Griffin was seen on video footage loading the equipment into his vehicle. Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputies called the thief ‘very brazen.?
Since that arrest was made, Griffin’s whereabouts were unknown until he turned himself in last week. He missed a court date in the process.
Narsh said the police investigation revealed no known job for Griffin, and he believes he was supporting himself and his family through the vending machine operation and other thefts.
‘Anyone who saw an individual using these uniforms would not question his authority,? Narsh said. ‘We believe we’ve stopped what could’ve been a continuous and ongoing theft.?