AUBURN - When Teresa Peters came to her Lansing home on Sept. 15, 2004, she found an ATM machine sitting on her patio.

Peters testified Monday in Christopher Balog's trial that she and her boyfriend, Rodney "Buddy" Linderberry, had tried to stop his cousin, Stephen Linderberry, from burglarizing Genoa's Smith IGA and steal an ATM with Balog, but they didn't find them in time.

Peters said she and her brother, Larry "Buddha" Walrad, protested the ATM's presence at her home, and the cash machine was moved by Rodney and Stephen Linderberry and Balog to Balog's part-time home at 2 Milliken Road, Lansing.

Balog is accused of stealing a bottle of Southern Comfort and cash from Genoa's King Ferry Pizzeria and bowling alley; beer and cigarettes from the Wilcox General Store; $3,000 worth of power tools from Ag Trac Parts; and the ATM from Smith IGA. All the burglaries occurred in September 2004.

Before they attempted to thwart the burglary, Peters said Rodney Linderberry told her "Chris is crazy" and wanted to steal an ATM.

Still Peters praised Balog, saying as she identified him that "he's kind of got a halo over his head."

"Chris has got the biggest heart in the world. He'll help anyone," she said.

When Peters said: "I think he should be in rehab not in prison," Assistant District Attorney Chris Valdina said the public might be happier with Balog in prison.

Balog's attorney, Dennis Sedor, asked for a mistrial, saying Valdina's comments would prejudice the jury against his client.

Judge Mark Fandrich denied the request, but said he would instruct the jury to disregard the comments.

Peters also testified Balog came one night to her house with a Dewalt drill last September, which Rodney Linderberry kept in exchange for storing stolen Black and Decker tools at Peters' residence. The stolen tools were sold to Lansing resident Dennis Flowers, an act for which both Rodney Linderberry and Peters were convicted.

Peters pleaded guilty in Locke Town Court to a misdemeanor charge of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. She was sentenced to three years probation.

Rodney Linderberry was convicted in a Locke trial of the same charge and sentenced to one year in Cayuga County Jail.

During ATM technician Doug Davis' testimony, he generated a receipt from the Smith IGA's ATM with its cash box missing, its bottom door pried open and the front lid ajar.

According to the receipt, the ATM had $2,180 loaded into it Sept. 13, 2004, and had the last current balance of $1,480.

Stephen Linderberry testified on Thursday that $1,480 was the amount divided between Balog, his cousin and him.

Three technicians from the Albany state police lab testified Friday that blood found on a sledgehammer left at the Smith IGA and found outside of a broken window at the King Ferry bowling alley definitively matched Balog's DNA profile, Valdina said.

Sedor said the sledgehammer - which Balog owns - was left to frame his client, and it is not unexpected his DNA would be on his own hammer. Sedor also noted testing found an unknown person's DNA on the hammer.

Valdina rested his case Monday, and the jury will return to listen to testimony from defense witnesses this afternoon.

Before the trial starts again, Rodney Linderberry will take the stand without the jury present and Fandrich will determine whether or not he will testify in front of the jury.

Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net