Feds: Suspects Used 'Jaws of Life' to Crack Open Los Angeles ATMs During Robbery Spree
What to Know
- Two Los Angeles men are accused of using a "Jaws of Life" rescue tool to crack open ATM machines during a string of armed robberies.
- Federal authorities arrested the suspects after two 7-Eleven robberies and believe they might be connected to at least 20 other robberies and attempted robberies.
- Investigators recovered stolen cash, firearms, the rescue tool and a stolen vehicle when the suspects were taken into custody.
Two men who authorities say used the “Jaws of Life” rescue tool to open ATM machines and take money from them were arrested, and are suspected of at least 20 other robberies and attempted robberies, according to federal officials.
Los Angeles residents Marcus Toles, 48, and Damian Brown, 35, were arrested on Friday, Oct. 2 and have been charged with interfering with commerce by robbery and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of, a crime of violence.
Authorities say the men wore ski masks and one would control the clerk while the other used the “Jaws of Life,” a tool used by rescue workers to pry open cars to save people, to open ATM machines and take money.
The two men were arrested after two 7-Eleven stores were robbed early Friday in Los Angeles’s East Hollywood and West Adams Heights neighborhoods, and are suspected in an additional 20 robberies and attempted robberies between February and October 2026.
An Orange County–based Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force focused on violent crimes had been investigating the robbery spree since September.
When they were arrested, police found stolen cash, a rescue tool, multiple firearms and the stolen vehicle Toles and Brown used to commit robberies, according to investigators.
Both men are convicted felons and Brown is currently on felony probation in Los Angeles County, according to authorities.
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