Charleston Co. man sentenced for 2021 Christmas Day ATM bombing

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A man who tried to blow up an Edisto Island ATM on Christmas Day 2021 pleaded guilty to his charges Tuesday.

David Earl Ammons pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and using a bomb in an attempt to blow up the ATM.

Ammons was given 10 years in prison for each charge with credit for 847 days served. The sentences will run concurrently, according to the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Charleston County deputies and the bomb squad responded to an explosion at Enterprise Bank of South Carolina located at 804 Oyster Park Drive on Edisto Island just after 9 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2021.

Investigators said someone used an explosive device to break into the ATM’s housing but did not breach the machine or get any money.

Ammons was arrested nearly a month later after a surveillance video that captured someone in a camo jacket and black wig set off a pipe-like explosive device before picking up the remnants of the device and leaving in a black Audi hatchback.

Deputies would later recover the jacket, wig and remnants of the explosive device on a nearby dirt road, authorities said.

Interactions with other law enforcement agencies led deputies to Ammons and his sister, Kelsie Ammons, who had used an Audi station wagon and black wig before.

Kelsie Ammons was arrested Feb. 11, 2022. She has not been to trial.