We always were concerned that the new Target would bring crime into Davis, but this is a bit extreme.
It is probably not the best idea to make light of crime, particularly since the would-be robbers/burglars did $100,000 in damage to the store, however no one was hurt and this scheme is so ridiculous that it begs for at least some light humor.
The first few people who attempted this sort of theft probably were able to get away with it. But these type of thefts are so commonplace and thieves apparently never the considered the fact that people who make ATM machines might be smart enough to engineer them so you cannot steal them with a truck and standard cable.
In this case, the weak point was the cable. However, I have seen a number where the cable held but the bumper came off the truck.
There have been other attempts, such as using a blowtorch to try to break into the ATM.
Bottom line for would-be thieves, the manufacturers make them so you cannot merely steal them with a truck and cable anymore.
If even they could, my guess is since people would basically be stealing a computer, there would be some sort of GPS tracking system on it.
The one thing the thieves did right here was take a stolen truck, which will make it very difficult for the police to track. Later reports indicate it was stolen from a rural area in Yolo County.
Also, they fled on foot when the theft was foiled, that made it hard to track. Unless the police have better descriptions than people wearing dark or black clothing, it is unlikely these individuals would be caught.
But, and here is an important point that stores ought to consider, while the thieves were unable to steal the contents of the ATM, they did do over $100,000 damage to the store, according to the press release.
Obviously, you want to discourage people from trying to heist ATM machines, but it might have been cheaper had the ATM been outside where the truck did not have to ram through the front doors of the store.
Maybe they could put the ATM in the middle of the store rather than in front, where a vehicle might be tempted to bash its way in.
The good news, as reported by the Davis Enterprise, is that the store did not miss a beat. They were open for business as usual with wooden boards covering the entry into the store.
The moral of this story is that thieves get one or two shots at these types of heists and then the authorities are smart enough to prevent them. Short of bringing in a bulldozer, I think it is safe to say that ATMs are not going to get removed by thieves and if they are, there will probably be GPS trackers that quickly alert authorities to their whereabouts.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
David, if you can get a copy of the video–I presume at some point it will be public record–you should post it here on Vanguard.
What losers. Didn’t they think that the machine would be emptied when the store closes?
The story of the mugging downtown is a bit scary. People in Davis need urban living skills. If you see someone loitering outside when you are locking up, go back inside and call the police.
This is wild!! Straight out of the movies! I am chuckling about the fact that they thought they would get away with the ATM machine too!