'Gumball Bandit' arrested in the Bronx after stealing almost 100 gumball machines

MOTT HAVEN, N.Y. -- A man who police said clearly has an obsession with candy was busted and accused of stealing, over time, some 100 gumball machines throughout the Bronx.

The machines were in stores and Laundromats. The bandit would apparently haul them out, at 75 pounds each, and hoist them onto a pick-up truck.

Police are calling him the gumball bandit. He posed as a repairman and has been swiping candy machines throughout the Bronx for many months.

Cut Zone Barber Shop on Melrose Avenue was robbed earlier this month. The suspect marched up to the door, told the barbers he was going to fix the candy machines and then walked right out with them.

"They wear a uniform, act like they come from a company," said Louie Cordero, a store owner.

Louie Cordero doesn't understand why the suspect would bother stealing these machines because at best they have $60 in change and they're worth about $300.

"He's hit small mom and pop stores. We're upset, with that money we pay the gas, the light," Cordero said.

The sweet tooth culprit was caught after several store owners turned in their surveillance videos to police. One showed him struggling with a partner to get the machine out of a pizza shop and in another heaving two machines out of a check cashing store.

Thursday night, police had Jason Bietsch in custody at the 40th precinct, so far linking the Scarsdale, New York man to three robberies.

But now, investigators are wondering if he's responsible for more than 100 stolen machines.

"It's amazing. This guy lives in a nice neighborhood. It's just petty cash," Cordero said.