5 men charged in ATM theft at Roseville bank
NOTE (Jan. 5, 2024): The Ramsey County Attorney's Office dismissed the complaint against Dekorius Durham for lack of probable cause. Charges against the other four men is active, and the investigation into all five defendants continues.
ROSEVILLE, Minn. — Four men from Texas and one from Minnesota have been charged in connection with an ATM theft from a Roseville bank earlier this week.
Ramsey County prosecutors charged Dekorius Durham, Larry Gill, Leonard Williams, Kenneth Brown and Christopher Merchant each with one count of theft and one count of first-degree property damage Wednesday. Brown is also charged with theft of a motor vehicle and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
The theft occurred around 4 a.m. Tuesday at the Great Southern Bank on County Road B2.
According to charging documents, responding officers found a white pickup truck leaving the scene with chains dragging behind it. They also saw an object lying in the bank's parking lot, which was later identified as an ATM.
An officer tried to pull the truck over, but the driver fled and eventually jumped out while it was still moving. The truck struck a car and a bus, both of which were parked, and all three vehicles sustained heavy damage.
The driver, later identified as Brown, tried to run, but police caught him "after a lengthy foot chase," the criminal complaint states.
Brown denied being involved in the "ATM incident," the complaint states. Police found a hotel keycard in his pocket and directions to the nearby Key Inn on his phone. The truck was determined to be stolen.
Police went to the Key Inn, where an employee said four men entered the hotel and went to a room after police arrived at the bank. Police learned Brown rented the room which the men entered, according to the complaint.
When confronted by police, the men locked themselves in the room. Police ordered them out several times before calling in the Ramsey County SWAT team. With a warrant in hand, authorities breached the room through its windows, prompting the four men to leave. They were arrested and identified as Durham, Gill, Merchant and Williams.
Surveillance footage from the bank allegedly showed Merchant using a crowbar on the ATM, him and Williams attaching chains to it and Gill lifting the machine after it fell over.
The footage also showed an SUV circling the area before and during the theft, the complaint states. Footage from a business by the Key Inn showed the same SUV arriving there after the theft. Inside the SUV, police found clothes matching those worn by the thieves in surveillance footage.
All of the men charged have previous criminal convictions, according to authorities. They are all in custody.
The complaint states similar tactics have been used in other ATM thefts that are under investigation.
Durham is from St. Paul, while the other four men have Texas addresses.
Note: The video above originally aired Dec. 12, 2023.
