Thieves Find Stealing An ATM Easier Than Opening It

Thieves who used a stolen backhoe to steal an ATM machine and found they could not pry the ATM open have tried the same thing before, New York police said.

Police say the unsuccessful robbery early Friday at a bank in the Maspeth neighborhood in Queens was the 11th in a series, the New York Post reported.

“This is part of a pattern,” said New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. “This is the 11th event in a pattern. Most of them are in Queens or Brooklyn North and I think two in Manhattan where they use force.”

Investigators said the backhoe was stolen from a construction site and driven to the Chase Bank branch.

“They drove a bulldozer right through the glass,” said a woman who passed the bank on her way to work not long after the robbery. “There is just glass and debris everywhere. It’s destroyed.”

Once the thieves had the ATM out of the bank they were unable to get it open.