Picture Taken of Man Accused of Damaging Photo Booth Leads to His Arrest

A 24-year-old Aurora man who had the unfortunate luck of having his photo snapped as he pried open the cash drawer of a photo booth at a Batavia amusement center was arrested Monday, police said.

Chancellor J. Terrell, of 1490 E. Wood Drive in Aurora, is charged with theft and criminal damage to property for allegations he stole $75 from the photo booth at Funway Amusements, 1335 S. River St. in Batavia, on Nov. 25. Police said he also caused $75 in damage to the photo booth.

The machine is designed to take photographs when “it senses tampering to the cash drawer,” which was exactly what happened in this case. Police distributed those photos, which show a clear view of the suspect’s face, over social media late last week and the story was well-publicized in the media. Because of the widespread attention, police said they received several tips identifying Terrell as the culprit, according to a Batavia Police Department press release.

Police said they had to wait to get the images from the owner of Funway who needed to enlist a repairman to pull the images from the photo booth. Terrell was arrested on Monday and released on bond.