Local News

Smash-And-Grab Thieves Target ATM Machines

January 23, 2015 / 5:26 PM CST / CBS Texas

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - For the third time in four days some would-be ATM smash-and-grab thieves have hit a Dallas retailer.

"They break the solid wall and take the ATM out," said Rapido convenience store owner Samir Patel after viewing the damage at this southeast Dallas store.

Residents in neighboring apartments heard a loud crash and notified nearby police. Officers chased three men in an SUV for about a mile until they abandoned the vehicle. They escaped on foot but the ATM was left behind.

Store owner Samir Patel is fed up with crime. He had an incident in the store parking lot Tuesday where a DISD police officer struggled with a suspect a and shot the man. "That (the smash-and-grab) is the last thing, it is done. I am here now I'm going stay inside the store I'm not going to go to my home I'm going to move my apartment here that's it," Patel declared.

He's not alone in his frustration. Earlier this week ATMs were taken from another convenience store and an upscale nail salon just thirty minutes apart.

"They have the ability to be bolted down to the floor," Clint Oden said of ATM machines in general.

Oden is COO and CFO of LD Systems of Carrollton, which sells and services ATMs. Smaller versions, called retail machines, are favorites of small shops because they can be placed near the checkout register for customer convenience. But Oden says they can also be an open invitation to smash-and-grab thieves.

"A lot of glass across those retail sites (store fronts), really easy to come in and smash the glass, hook onto the ATM with a chain, pull it out with a truck," he told CBS 11 News.

Oden urges his retailers to put ATMs in the back of a store where they're harder to reach. It also makes it less easy for a would-be thief to case the store And to use the holes in the bottom of the housing to bolt the machine into a concrete floor. Many times, because retail ATM models are so small, store owners want to move them to accommodate displays. Oden urges that they be bolted down instead.

"Eight inches into the floor. With big, solid bolts that come right here and secure it," he said. Security, security. Take the extra time, bolt it down."

LD systems can be reached at 972.929.9228 or on the web at www.LDSystemsinfo.com

Dallas police are comparing the three ATM break-ins looking for similarities. The initial plan is to hold a news conference next week to outline possible suspects and MOs.