Arsonist Torched ATM With Gasoline, Police Say

Authorities are looking for a man who poured gasoline and lit an ATM machine on fire inside a Bloomfield bank last week.

The Bloomfield Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Task Force are investigating the arson at Sovereign Bank on Belleville Avenue that occurred shortly before 6:30 a.m. on July 1.

Bloomfield police said the man walked into the bank’s vestibule containing the bank's ATM, tampered with the machine and then poured gasoline on it and set it on fire. The man was seen running out of the bank up Belleville Avenue toward Belleville, police said.

The man is described as a black in his early to mid 20s between 5-foot-8 and 5-10 with a mustache. Police said he was wearing an olive green sweatshirt, white cloth wrapped around his neck, white sneakers, a backpack and carrying a Brick Bandits Lacrosse Green /White umbrella. 

If anyone has information about this crime, contact Detective Chad Smith at: 973-680-4086 or csmith@bloomfieldnjpd.com.