MarcSmith
09-28-2007, 01:34 PM
Thief drives through on backhoe, steals ATM
BY REBECCA DELLAGLORIA
Homestead police are looking for a brazen thief who used a stolen backhoe to lift and haul away a drive-through ATM from a Bank of America early Tuesday.
The machine, a free-standing unit at the rear drive-through of the bank, 850 N. Homestead Blvd., was believed to contain about $100,000 cash, police said.
''I've seen some crazy stuff with ATMs and all, but I haven't seen this before,'' said police Capt. Ed Bowe.
Surveillance video from the bank showed a four-door gold or tan Ford F-250 drive up to the ATM around 3:18 a.m., Bowe said. Four minutes later, a backhoe appears in the frame, with a man behind the wheel.
''[He] proceeds to use the backhoe to scoop up the ATM. And then the cameras go out,'' Bowe said.
Because of the timing, police believe the Ford driver could be the backhoe driver, Bowe said. The bank is 1.2 miles from the Homestead police headquarters.
Police found the abandoned backhoe -- still running -- at Northeast Eighth Avenue and 12th Street. It was stolen from the nearby South Dade Busway construction site, said Homestead spokeswoman Lillian Delgado.
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said a series of similar ATM thefts-by-backhoe occurred in early-morning hours several months ago in North and South Miami-Dade.
More recently, someone attempted to steal an ATM at a Western Union in the Gratigny area of Northwest Miami-Dade by tying a rope around the machine and trying to pull it away. The effort failed, but caused $5,300 in damage to the machine at the bank, 11834 NW 10th Ave.
Police are asking anyone with information about the crimes to call 305-247-1535.
this is classic....and the fact that its only a mile or so from the police station, even better....I'll bet the guy was scoping out the place for weeks to watch the police traffic and find out the best time for the grab-n-go....who needs a gun to rob a bank....
BY REBECCA DELLAGLORIA
Homestead police are looking for a brazen thief who used a stolen backhoe to lift and haul away a drive-through ATM from a Bank of America early Tuesday.
The machine, a free-standing unit at the rear drive-through of the bank, 850 N. Homestead Blvd., was believed to contain about $100,000 cash, police said.
''I've seen some crazy stuff with ATMs and all, but I haven't seen this before,'' said police Capt. Ed Bowe.
Surveillance video from the bank showed a four-door gold or tan Ford F-250 drive up to the ATM around 3:18 a.m., Bowe said. Four minutes later, a backhoe appears in the frame, with a man behind the wheel.
''[He] proceeds to use the backhoe to scoop up the ATM. And then the cameras go out,'' Bowe said.
Because of the timing, police believe the Ford driver could be the backhoe driver, Bowe said. The bank is 1.2 miles from the Homestead police headquarters.
Police found the abandoned backhoe -- still running -- at Northeast Eighth Avenue and 12th Street. It was stolen from the nearby South Dade Busway construction site, said Homestead spokeswoman Lillian Delgado.
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said a series of similar ATM thefts-by-backhoe occurred in early-morning hours several months ago in North and South Miami-Dade.
More recently, someone attempted to steal an ATM at a Western Union in the Gratigny area of Northwest Miami-Dade by tying a rope around the machine and trying to pull it away. The effort failed, but caused $5,300 in damage to the machine at the bank, 11834 NW 10th Ave.
Police are asking anyone with information about the crimes to call 305-247-1535.
this is classic....and the fact that its only a mile or so from the police station, even better....I'll bet the guy was scoping out the place for weeks to watch the police traffic and find out the best time for the grab-n-go....who needs a gun to rob a bank....