News

ATM news of the weird

January 20, 2005

Following are some of the strangest items recently encountered by this editor during her daily searches for ATM-related news. ATMmarketplace collects these odd stories and publishes them on a regular basis in hopes of tickling our readers' funny bones.

Two-time losers. According to a report in The Villager newspaper, Montgomery County Sheriff's deputies on Oct. 20 discovered a heavily damaged ATM at a Southwest Bank of Texas branch that had been pulled away from its base. The perpetrators used a pickup truck and a chain wrapped around the machine to remove it from its base - but were not successful in removing any cash, according to Lt. Dan Norris.

Later that evening, a similar incident occurred at a nearby Washington Mutual Bank branch. According to the Sheriff's Department report, when the perpetrators attempted to use the vehicle to pull the machine from its base, the rear axle of the vehicle broke. They then abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.

The vehicle had been reported stolen Sept. 23.

Surveillance photos from the banks suggest the same people perpetrated both incidents, Norris said.

***

Up in smoke. According to a report in the Glasgow Evening Times, police said thieves tried to break into the ATM at a filling station on Nov. 5, using oxyacetylene cutters.

A West Mercia Police spokesman said: "The attempted theft, which was reported to police at 12:10 a.m., resulted in the cash machine catching fire when the would-be thieves made off."

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So close, yet so far. According to a Los Angeles Times report, police showed up at a Cheers Liquor store after a robbery alarm sounded at about 6 a.m. Nov. 12. When officers arrived, they found the ATM in the parking lot and the front window of the store smashed.

"It looks like they backed into the window because there were tire tracks there. Then they put some kind of strap around it and pulled it out of the store," said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver.

But that's as far as the cash machine got. Either the strap the would-be thieves were using broke or the alarm scared them off because they left the machine on the asphalt.

When Hassan Haddouch, the owner of a nearby coffee shop, got to work at 7 a.m., he saw police working on the crime scene. The joke was on the thieves, Haddouch said.

"He never leaves any money in it," Haddouch said of the liquor store owner. "A guy broke in and took the machine, but they found out it was empty and took off."

"It shows the stupidity of criminals these days," said coffee shop customer Jacob Feuer.

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The wrong man. According to a report in the Miami Herald, Pedro Diaz drove up to an ATM at a Washington Mutual branch about 10:30 p.m. Nov. 24.

While he waited for his money, a man wearing black clothing and a ski mask approached him and yelled, "Give me your money." The robber placed his hand in his jacket as though pointing a gun at Diaz.

Diaz, who works at the Federal Detention Center in Miami and who was wearing a police uniform, drew his weapon, a Glock 23, and loaded a round into the chamber.

The robber ran to a white 2002 Pontiac Grand Am driven by another man. He was not found during the police search that followed.

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Trail of evidence. According to a report in The St. George (Utah) Spectrum, a witness spotted a man chaining an ATM into his pickup truck about 5 a.m. on Nov. 29. When the witness yelled for him to stop, he pulled away so fast that the ATM fell from the bed of the truck and was dragging by a chain as he drove away.

After a search, which included two helicopters, 22-year-old Dylan Kody Adams was arrested on charges of burglary, property theft, two counts of criminal mischief and evading police.