Four men tried to steal an ATM from a Silver Spring, Maryland 7-Eleven in February, and it turned out to be trickier than they anticipated.
Montgomery County police released a 2-minute surveillance video of the Feb. 17 bungled burglary in the Hillandale neighborhood. It happened around 4 a.m.
The video shows a pickup truck smashing backward through the storefront, then three masked men climb over the debris, and slowly, but surely, load the heavy machine on their orange-painted steel hand truck, which they brought with them to execute the heist.
“On one hand, it seemed like they came in with a plan but that plan quickly unraveled once things got going,” said Officer Rick Goodale, spokesman for the Montgomery County Police Department.
The would-be thieves struggle with the ATM, and one suspect appears less than helpful, drawing a punch in the arm from his partner, encouraging him to pitch-in.
“It took them a while to get the ATM on the dolly,” Goodale said. “It appears the driver of the truck got a little restless sitting out there. … He decided to leave the area before the suspects came out,” he said.
Finally the masked suspects get the cash-filled machine out the door.
“The ATM falls off the hand truck onto one of the suspects. The suspects realize their ride has gone,” Goodale said.
At that point the hapless thieves skedaddle, leaving the ATM lying in the parking lot, but returning for the hand truck.
Police think they’ve tried this before, as a similar operation failed in the District two nights earlier.
It turns out the truck used to ram into the store was stolen, too. It was later found in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Anyone with information about the attempted theft is asked to contact Montgomery County police at 240-773-5100.
