STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 30, 2002
WESTMINSTER, Colo. -- Between the afternoon of Dec. 27 and early morning Dec. 29, area police were kept busy by a thief or thieves who stole a pickup from a Broomfield construction business, then embarked on a four-city crime spree. The robber or robbers stole one ATM and tried to bag as many as three others, according to a report in the Rocky Mountain News.
Just after midnight on Dec. 28, the truck was used in a burglary at a Northglenn sandwich shop. The doors of the business were damaged, and it appeared that someone tried unsuccessfully to break into an ATM.
The insurance card from the stolen truck was found at the scene, police said.
About an hour later, Westminster police got a report of a burglary at a convenience store. During that incident, the suspect drove a truck through the business, then loaded an ATM machine into the back of the truck.
A witness who called police gave a description of the truck that matched the one stolen in Broomfield, a white 1991 Ford.
The next store hit was a Westminster Diamond Shamrock gas station. The ATM was not taken, but the building was heavily damaged. Then Arvada police received a call about a similar incident at a gas station there. Again, the ATM was not taken but the building was damaged.
The stolen ATM was new and didn't have much money in it, said investigator Tim Torres of the Westminster Police Department. Torres said the only ATM taken was a lightweight model. He said he suspected the others weren't stolen because they were too heavy to lift.
