News

Illinois police investigate string of ATM thefts

March 16, 2005

Peoria (Ill.) Journal Star: Galesburg police learned could not say whether two suspects who have long eluded local authorities may have been involved in two recent ATM thefts in eastern Iowa.

Authorities have not ruled out the possible involvement of Mary Saline, 27, and Tim Lucas, 36, in thefts that occurred Feb. 12 and last weekend near Muscatine, just across the Mississippi River from Rock Island County.

Arrest warrants have been issued for the pair in connection with an ATM heist last May in Andover.

Suspect Paul E. Miller, 35, of Abingdon was arrested in December and is believed to have been involved with the Andover heist and one in Alpha. He remains in the Henry County Jail on a $500,000 bond. A pretrial hearing for Miller is scheduled for March 24.

A multi-county task force continues to investigate 35 ATM heists or attempted heists in eight counties. The thefts have occurred since October 2003 in Knox, Peoria, Fulton, McDonough, Mercer, Rock Island, Henry and Stark counties.

Police believe Lucas and Saline were involved in a number of those thefts, which featured a similar modus operandi.