Suspect tied ATM to minivan to steal it from North Philadelphia Chinese restaurant, police say
Police say they are looking for two masked men who stole an ATM from a Chinese takeout restaurant in North Philadelphia Thursday evening.
Investigators say the suspects used a chain to rip the machine from the floor of Lucky Garden on the 4800 block of North 8th Street.
"They clearly wrapped a chain around this ATM, and it was done very quickly, and they hooked the chain to the back of the minivan and ripped it from the floor. It was attached to the floor with cable," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Police say the men were wearing masks when they picked up the ATM and put it in the back of a tan older model Ford minivan before driving off. The owner told police there was about $2,000 inside.
Employees were inside the store at the time of the theft and were not injured.
Police say this entire incident was captured on surveillance cameras inside and outside the business. They say they will review the video in hopes of finding the people responsible.
"To take an entire ATM machine at 6 o'clock in the afternoon from a business that's open — and nowadays there are cameras everywhere — it's a very brazen theft," Small said.
Those who live nearby didn't see it or hear the incident but were shocked to learn how the men got it out.
"I am surprised that they got away with it," a neighbor said.
They say the fact that they did it so quickly was proof it was carefully planned out.
"They have to be plotting that for a while," she said
