When Amy Bopp, 52, a Baltimore County resident, takes her daily morning walk in Benjamin Banneker Park in Baltimore County, she likes to commune with nature, not do her banking. But straying from her usual path one morning led to a discovery of what she believes is a stolen ATM machine.
“I had to answer nature?s call, so I wandered off the trail,” said Bopp, who works as a coordinator for The Hearing and Speech Agency in Baltimore City. “But I noticed something that looked like a washing machine.”
Taking a closer look, Bopp believed she was staring at the broken pieces of ATM machine. Inside the machine it looks as though it is a computer with lots of electronic gadgets and circuits, she said. There are no identifying marks to indicate absolutely that it is an ATM machine, but Bopp says she is certain of what she found.
“I saw the slot where you put the deposits and other metal parts that look like an ATM machine,” said Bopp, who is deaf and communicated through the Maryland Relay service. “I remember reading the people tied them to their cars and stole them and dragged them away, so I thought maybe this was one of those.”
Bopp had a passing motorist call the police. In a hurry to get to work, she gave a Baltimore County officer a piece she found with the serial number and left the rest in park.
“He told me he would be happy to go back and find it, but I had to go work and it was raining heavily,” she said.
County Police spokesman Bill Toohey said they are investigating her story. “We?re aware of it and looking into it,” he said.
Returning to the scene two days later, Bopp moved a part of the machine, which she hopes she can return to the proper owner, to her car.
