2 suspects arrested in theft that saw ATM ripped from drive-thru, left in middle of Watt Avenue
NORTH HIGHLANDS – Detectives say two suspects are now under arrest after the August incident that saw an ATM left in the middle of a major Sacramento County road after it was ripped away from its station.
The scene was along the 4600 block of Watt Avenue in the North Highlands area.
Deputies with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office responded around 6:15 a.m. on Aug. 1 and found the ATM in the middle of the road.
An ATM that was stolen from SAFE Credit Union sits in the middle of the road on Watt Ave! @sacsheriff investigating! @GoodDaySac @CBSSacramento @CameronCGlenn #ATMStolen pic.twitter.com/O2U6mJcybT
— DG (@CameraGuyDave1) August 2, 2023
According to the sheriff's office, Natale Russo and Stevi Lenning have been identified as the suspects who allegedly stole a large forklift from a nearby construction site.
Detectives believe the pair drove the forklift to the SAFE Credit Union bank, left it, then came back overnight to try and steal the drive-up ATM.
It appears that their plan almost worked, but detectives say the stolen pickup the pair tried to get away in drove too fast and caused the ATM to fall out the back and onto Watt Avenue.
In a statement, SAFE Credit Union said they were working with law enforcement on the incident.
"Our members' security is our top priority and we take precautions to ensure their account information is safe. We ask anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office," said Micah Grant, SAFE Credit Union's VP of Communications and Government Relations, in the statement.
About two weeks later, detectives learned of a burglary in North Highlands where the suspects ditched a U-Haul van. The next day, detectives did a more thorough search of the area and located the suspect -- Russo, who was allegedly driving another stolen vehicle.
Lenning and Russo were soon linked by detectives to the attempted ATM theft. However, it wasn't until September that Lenning was arrested. Detectives say they located Lenning allegedly driving a stolen Mercedes.