Detectives are looking for a group of brazen ATM thieves who stole cash machines containing thousands of dollars from stores across Brooklyn and Queens last month.
Nothing seemed to deter the crooks, according to police, as they either cut through locks with tools or simply smashed open the glass front door to five different businesses between Sept. 1 and Sept. 15. In one instance, they even stole a dog keeping watch over one bodega in East New York, Brooklyn; police said the pooch was eventually returned to its owner, unharmed.
That theft — which occurred at 2:50 a.m. on Sept. 13 at 416 Glenmore Ave. — was caught on camera in video footage that the NYPD released Wednesday night. The video shows three suspects quickly entering the location, with one perpetrator scooping up the canine off its feet and walking outside as his two cohorts made a bee line for the ATM machine.
Cops said the pair of suspects unplugged the ATM machine and carried it out of the front door. Police later learned that the device contained $7,340 in cash. The perpetrators also stole a cash register containing $2,800 in cash, and about $13,000 in assorted merchandise.
According to authorities, the burglars loaded the stolen loot into a white van and fled the scene.
Through an investigation, detectives linked the crooks behind the East New York caper to four similar ATM burglaries, which police described below:
• At 3:54 a.m. on Sept. 1, two individuals cut through multiple locks to break into a grocery store at 123-11 Jamaica Ave. in Richmond Hill. They stole an ATM containing $8,200 in cash, then loaded it onto a white van that fled westbound along Jamaica Avenue.
• At 5:20 a.m. on Sept. 3, two crooks smashed open the front door to a Payomatic check cashing shop at 188-34 Linden Blvd. in St. Albans. They grabbed an ATM containing $15,000 in cash, then loaded it into a white van that fled southbound along Farmers Boulevard.
• At 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 8, three burglars cut through the security gate of a bodega at 5401 Flatlands Ave. in Brooklyn, got inside the premises and stole an ATM containing $10,000 in cash along with $400 from a cash register and $500 in merchandise. They put the loot inside a white van that fled in an unknown direction.
• Finally, at 2:25 a.m. on Sept. 15, three bandits smashed through the front door of a grocery store at 91-02 104th St. in Richmond Hill and stole an ATM containing an unknown amount of currency. They loaded the device onto a white van that fled in an unknown direction.
No injuries were reported in any of the capers, police said.
Anyone with information regarding the break-ins or the suspects’ whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
