Thief stole forklift, tried to haul off ATM, Hurst police report

A man accused of stealing a forklift early Sunday and using it to try to steal an ATM from a North Richland Hills bank was in jail Monday facing multiple charges, police reported.

Max Carrel Rippetoe, 36, who has had an address in Amarillo, was spotted by a Hurst officer shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday. Rippetoe was driving a forklift loaded with the ATM in the parking lot of Bank of America in the 8600 block of Bedford Euless Road, Hurst police said in a news release. The bank is on the North Richland Hills side of the road.

The officer flashed his lights, but Rippetoe kept going toward a Texas 183 service road. The forklift hit another ATM and got stuck, the officer reported.

As Rippetoe ran away, the officer chased him around the bank until Rippetoe stumbled and fell. He struggled with the officer as he tried to arrest him, and the officer deployed his Taser “to stop the aggression,” Hurst police said in a news release.

Officers from Hurst and North Richland Hills arrived to assist, and Rippetoe was arrested. Because the Taser was used, he was taken to a hospital for treatment. The officer was treated for a hand injury.

Investigators later learned that the forklift was stolen from a Taco Casa construction site on Pipeline Road in Hurst. It was valued at $25,000, police reported

Rippetoe was in the North Richland Hills Jail on Monday evening with bail set at a total of $130,750, a jail officer said.

Rippetoe faces charges of theft of property under $200,000/ATM, theft of property between $20,000 and $100,000, resisting arrest, evading arrest and criminal mischief, according to the jail officer.

This story was originally published August 31, 2015 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Thief stole forklift, tried to haul off ATM, Hurst police report."