Man Shot to Death by Robber at ATM

A 50-year-old man was slain early Friday while making a transaction at an automated teller machine in South-Central Los Angeles, police said.

Charles Edward Foster was the second person to die at an ATM in Los Angeles County in nine days.

As two friends waited in a car about 1:20 a.m., Foster went to one of the ATMs at the Home Savings of America branch at 5717 S. Vermont Ave. and was shot to death by a robber who confronted him, officials said. No arrests have been made.

Home Savings officials said later in the day that they, like those at many other banks, may end nighttime access to their ATMs at some branches. Home Savings machines are currently open 24 hours a day.

A Bank of America branch across the street from where Foster was killed stopped offering nighttime ATM services long ago. Its machines are available only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until 7 p.m. Fridays.

“Any Versateller in the inner city should be closed at night,” said one of that branch’s security guards, Bernard King.

Los Angeles police officials say ATM robberies are relatively infrequent, averaging two or three per month. They said Foster was the first person killed at an ATM this year in the city.

In West Covina on Friday, 700 people attended a memorial service for the other recent ATM victim, 23-year-old Cory Stanfield. Stanfield, a construction worker, was robbed and shot in the head at 10:30 p.m. July 17 while at a Wells Fargo ATM. His killer, too, is still at large.

David Burgess, spokesman for the California Banking Assn. in San Francisco, said there is still customer demand for nighttime ATM transactions.

In recent years, the LAPD has started installing ATMs at its police stations. Currently, 17 divisions have 24-hour machines, officials said.

Both police and banking officials stressed the importance of taking safety precautions when using an ATM. Customers who must use them at night should make sure others are around, said Det. Paul Wright, though following such advice did not help Foster. “Well, yeah,” Wright said. “It didn’t. There is no guarantee.”