UPDATE – Security camera video at the gas station shows three men, wearing masks, using a sledge hammer to break the front door.
They attach a chain from their van to the ATM and pull it outside.
The crooks struggle to load the machine into the vehicle but it’s too heavy.
So they drive off, dragging the ATM behind the van onto Highway 97 in a shower of sparks.
The mangled machine broke loose and was left on the highway.
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“These machines are extremely heavy and very well secured,” says Kelowna RCMP spokesperson Cst. Jesse O’Donaghey. “So had they escaped with it, chances are they would have had a great deal of difficulty actually gaining access to the machine.”
The business owner thinks he saw the van last week, likely when the thieves were casing the gas station while planning their heist.
KELOWNA–Thieves didn’t get very far with a stolen ATM on Sunday.
RCMP were called to a break-in and theft from a gas station in the 3600-block of Highway 97 North around 4 a.m.
Police say at least two masked men, travelling in an older van, forced the front glass doors of the business off the hinges and managed to take the ATM.
The bank machine was found only about 50 feet away from the gas station. It had apparently fallen out of the vehicle.
RCMP are still investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call the Kelowna RCMP detachment at 250-762-3300 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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