Thieves chain ATM to pickup and drag it off — but a bus stymies the getaway, Oregon cops say
ATM thieves fleeing a crime scene in their pickup Monday ran into an extremely big obstacle: a public bus, according to Portland police.
After chaining the ATM to their large pickup at a Plaid Pantry convenience store, the thieves drove off Monday morning around 4 a.m. — dragging the stolen money-dispensing machine along behind them, police said in a Tweet after the incident. Police said three suspects were involved in the ATM theft, KPTV reports.
But any hope of a clean escape came to an end when the suspects’ pickup crashed into a TriMet public bus, police said. No one was injured in the crash.
Police said that, following the crash, the vehicle kept driving until the thieves ultimately abandoned it, Patch reports.
The convenience store is at the corner of Holgate Boulevard and 52nd Avenue SE, while the pickup was discovered about a half-mile away at Cora Street and 42nd Avenue SE, according to police.
The thieves didn’t completely botch their crime, though: Police said that before abandoning the pickup and running away, the suspects pried open the ATM and stole cash from it, KATU reports.
In pictures posted on Twitter by police, a chain is visible hanging off the end of the pickup truck.
The bus — cordoned off with police tape — sits in front of the convenience store, and the store’s parking lot is strewn with shattered glass from the business’s front door, photos show.
Police described one of the suspects as a white, 6-foot-tall man with a medium or heavy build, and another as a thin 6-foot-tall man, KOIN reports. No description was given for the third suspect.
None of the suspects have been apprehended, police said.
Authorities asked anyone in the area to check their security cameras in case the footage catches any part of the crime.
This story was originally published September 10, 2018 at 1:21 PM.