Cutting Torch, Nail Salon Roof, and $155K Gone
Chilean Burglar Who Torched a Tempe ATM and Walked Off With $155K Finally Caught
If you ever wondered why your Wells Fargo ATM sometimes looks like it has been through a rough week, this story from Tempe might explain things.
In the early morning hours of October 4, 2024, a man authorities have identified as 36-year-old Diego Arriagada Cornejo allegedly pulled off one of the more brazen ATM heists in recent Valley memory. His target was a Wells Fargo ATM housed inside a strip mall nail salon near Hardy Drive and Baseline Road in Tempe. Rather than waltz through the front door like most people, Cornejo allegedly cut a large hole through the building's roof, then cut through a wall to reach the small room used to service the machine. He then fired up a cutting torch and went straight to work on the ATM itself.
The result: more than $155,000 in stolen cash and roughly $61,000 in property damage left behind. Not exactly a clean operation, but it was bold.
Tempe detectives spent months working the case using DNA analysis and other forensic evidence to connect Cornejo to the crime. With help from partner agencies, he was arrested in Los Angeles in February. Authorities believe he is affiliated with a South American Theft Group, a transnational criminal enterprise well known to the FBI that specializes in sophisticated commercial burglaries targeting financial institutions and high-value assets across multiple states. Investigators say the Tempe job may also be connected to a separate burglary in Paradise Valley and similar crimes in California and Washington.
Tempe Police Chief Ken McCoy put it simply: no matter where someone runs, detectives will keep working to hold them accountable.
The investigation remains active.