DPD Investigates 3 More Attempted ATM Thefts, Nearly 50 This Year
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Dallas (CBSDFW.COM) – Dallas Police say three early Friday morning ATM "Smash and Grab" style robbery attempts are all linked, and now they're trying to catch the suspects behind it all.
Investigators say the first hit was 3:24 am, at a Family Dollar store at 9243 Skillman. At 4:40 am, a Shell gas station at 8207 S. Hampton was targeted. Finally, the popular "The Rustic" restaurant in Dallas' West Village neighborhood was also hit.
In all cases, the crimes were caught on surveillance cameras, and the suspects never managed to make off either with the ATMs or a safe from the Family Dollar store. The thieves used either a truck to ram the front entrances of the business or a brick to smash through the front window.
Kyle Noonan, who owns The Rustic said, "When you build your own businesses from the ground up and you save every dime you have in order to build a building and create a business, it's frustrating when somebody tries to steal it from you."
He says the damage left to the front entrance to his restaurant is in the tens of thousands of dollars. More money than what he believes was ever inside the ATM the thieves wanted to take, but couldn't.
He added, "It's 30 feet past our front door so they really have to work for it, and they didn't get it because its secure. They did a lot of damage and that's it."
Dallas police say they've recorded 47 cases of A-T-M smash and grab attempts since the beginning of 2015. So far they've only arrested and charged five people related to what has become a new wave of robbery attempts in Dallas.
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