Thorsby RCMP are investigating, after two break and enters targeting ATM machines in the early morning hours Sunday.
RCMP said officers were initially dispatched after an alarm went off at the Village Supermarket on 50 Avenue in Thorsby at around 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 6.
Around the same time, a resident reported a loud noise at the Thorsby Esso gas station to RCMP.
Officers attended the gas station first, where they found the store’s ATM stolen, with significant damage to the business.
CCTV cameras show that a silver F-350 with aluminum rims backed up to the business, and a man with a black hoody broke the glass doors, and attached a sling to the ATM. The truck was able to drag the ATM out of the store.
RCMP say that the Village Supermarket had been broken into in a similar method, but the thieves were unsuccessful in removing the ATM.
The F-350 is believed to have broken a tail light during the crime, and there is pre-existing, significant damage to the driver’s door.
This is the most recent in a series of ATM robberies and attempts in the northern Alberta region over the past several weeks.
On Sept. 30, three suspects using a white truck stole an ATM from the Servus Credit Union in Legal, Alta.
In another incident on Sept. 20, four masked suspects attempted to steal an ATM from a Tofield gas station using a black truck, but were unsuccessful.
RCMP say they are investigating, but can’t confirm if the incidents are related.
The two Thorsby businesses, in the most recent incident, will be closed for some time while RCMP investigate and repairs are made.
Anyone with information should call their local RCMP detachment or Crimestoppers.