Security camera, store club card ID suspect in vending machine theft

A security camera and a customer loyalty card helped police catch a suspect Saturday in the theft of a Super Ball vending machine from the Safeway at 902 W. Francis Ave.

A store camera filmed a man and a woman arriving at the store on Jan. 12, Spokane Sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said in a news release Tuesday. The video showed the woman going into the store and buying a bottle of shampoo. Meanwhile the man walked into the entryway, knelt next to the machine and carried it to their car.

Store workers checked register records and found the woman had used her Safeway discount card to make the purchase. After obtaining a search warrant, Deputy Gavin Pratt got the woman’s name and a copy of the video from the Safeway records.

On Saturday, Pratt went to the suspect’s home at 6318 N. Normandie St. and met Randolph M. Caul, 46, whom he recognized from the video, Reagan said.

An investigation found that Caul’s wife had been unaware of the theft, and Caul had obtained only $3.25 in quarters from the machine, Reagan said. However, because the machine was valued at more than $500, he was arrested on second-degree theft charges.

Caul showed Pratt the alley where he had abandoned the stolen vending machine, but it was no longer there, Reagan said. Caul was booked into the Spokane County Jail on the felony charge.