Casper Police Arrest Man for Smashing Bank Windows, ATM
Casper police on Wednesday arrested a man who allegedly used a pipe to damage bank windows and an ATM earlier this month.
Patrick Henry Harsha, 44, was booked into jail on a recommended charge of felony property destruction. He will likely make his initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Charging documents say the damage was reported at Bank of the West located at 300 South Wolcott on the morning of March 3.
The branch manager said she had video of a heavy-set white man wearing a grey coat, blue jeans and a blue beanie hitting the ATM with a pipe shortly after 10:30 p.m. on March 2. About 90 minutes later, the man returned and used the same pipe to hit three of the drive-up windows.
Each of the bulletproof windows had to be replaced, the manager told police, to the tune of $10,000 each. At that point, she did not have an estimate as to the damage to the ATM.
On March 16, an officer returned to the bank after a woman reported seeing the suspect from the video on the walking path and near Joshua's Storehouse.
Police checked the Wyoming Rescue Mission and showed photos of the suspect to staff. Staff members reportedly said the suspect looked similar to Harsha, who was homeless and usually arrived at the mission shortly before 10 p.m. most nights.
Staff reportedly told police that Harsha had been wearing the same coat and boots that the suspect wore in the photo.
At about 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, an officer found Harsha at the Gazebo on the 300 block of South Beech. Harsha reportedly matched the photos of the suspect and was wearing similar clothing.
When told about the reason for the contact, Harsha asked, "Am I under arrest?" The officer then read Harsha his Miranda rights and took Harsha to jail.