Brazen Thieves Target ATM At Turlock VFW Hall
TURLOCK (CBS13) — In a bold and brazen move two men rammed a chain link fence in the middle of a neighborhood, backed into a VFW Hall, and tried to pry an ATM from inside. While the bandits were wearing masks and driving a stolen truck, one of them made a mistake and it was all caught on camera.
"There is a time where he walks up to the camera and you can get one of the guys' face," said Manuel Sandoval, an Iraqi War Veteran and a volunteer at the hall.
Sandoval came into the VFW Tuesday morning to the mess. Surveillance video time stamped the burglary at 3am. While the men tried time and again to steal the ATM, it wouldn't budge. So instead, Sandoval says the suspects stole a pair of WWII rifles and bottles of booze.
"I don't know who would actually have the gall to do this to veterans," he said.
While majority of the mess was cleaned up, there are still some repairs that need to be made. But for veterans who see this place as a home away from home, this theft runs deeper than just money.
"We do so much for the community and the surrounding areas, it's what we do, and you just ever think anything like this is going to happen to you," said Donald Dinning, a Vietnam War Veteran.
Just where those rifles once sat lay two American flags. Dinning said it's sign of such disrespect to the men and women who fought for our freedom.
"If you got no morals and you'll do anything to anyone. That's just bad people," he said.
But thanks to a surveillance system donated by a veteran, they might get a chance to fight back.
"I'm just hoping that the public can help us catch these guys make them pay for what they've done," said Sandoval.
Not just for damages, but Sandoval wants the suspects to do time for the attack on veterans.
If you have any information, call the Turlock Police Department.