SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Surveillance cameras are almost everywhere -- in banks, on street corners and now in some Coke machines.

"People are going to prison for breaking into vending machines,” said Detective Mike Whitcomb of the Scottsdale Police Department.

Whitcomb told 5 Investigates reporter Jon Baird a camera hidden inside Coke machines snapped pictures as Joseph Alan Daquilante allegedly cleaned out the coin box.

“We established he had been hitting the Valley pretty consistently for at least six months,” Whitcomb said.

Scottsdale police accuse Daquilante of bagging more than $20,000 over the past two years. Pictures snapped from a camera inside the Coke machines show the man actually holding a big wad of cash.

The cameras also caught him as he allegedly cleaned out a machine on the second floor of a Scottsdale hotel, police said.

Another hidden vending machine camera allegedly shows him scoring cash at a Scottsdale business complex, according to officers.

Scottsdale police caught up with Daquilante last week.

“As soon as I approached the vehicle, I immediately recognized it was him from the videos,” Whitcomb told the 5i Team.

Police said Daquilante was arrested in June for allegedly knocking off vending machines. In the probable cause statement, the detective stated he had "numerous surveillance camera photos of Daquilante from 14 separate dates of crime scenes."

Reba Varela, the property manager from one of Daquilante's alleged hits, was thrilled that a soft drink company would stuff a tiny camera into a soda machine to help catch a thief.

Scottsdale police gave 5 Investigates a CD jammed full of surveillance photos of people they say are breaking into vending machines all across the Valley, from apartment laundry rooms to high schools to high-end resorts.

Whitcomb said he believes it's mostly driven by one thing -- drugs.

“I call coin-operated machines tweaker piggy banks," Whitcomb said. “It seems to be a quick, easy way to get cash to pay for the meth habit."

Authorities said Dacqueline could be facing a pretty long stay in prison if he's convicted.