13 arrested in North Texas ATM theft ring accused of 70+ robberies
Officials said the thefts happened in cities across the Metroplex, including Fort Worth, Dallas, Bedford, Arlington and Grapevine
Law enforcement officials say they’ve busted a group of ATM thieves behind a string of dramatic robberies across the Metroplex.
Fort Worth police say 13 men are in custody, charged with hitting at least 70 ATMs and making off with tens of thousands of dollars.
WATCH HEREInvestigators told NBC 5 they turned to technology to make their case and shut down the theft ring.
Surveillance video showed the scene from a late November night at a 7-Eleven on McCart Avenue in south Fort Worth.
SIGN UP Suddenly, footage showed a man smashing through the store’s glass window with a sledgehammer.
“And then went inside the store, attached a tow hook and chains to the 7-Eleven ATM,” said Fort Worth PD detective Brian Raynsford.
Outside, a pickup truck slammed on the gas, bringing the ATM flying out into the parking lot.
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“This was a brazen, very quick, very violent type of offense,” said Raynsford.
Police told NBC 5 the crime was fast and well-organized, and they soon learned it was part of a pattern.
“We contacted the Dallas PD detectives, and they informed us that there had been a string of these similar type offenses,” said Raynsford.
Investigators said over the last year, the crew behind the McCants Avenue robbery was suspected of breaking open at least 70 ATMs the same way in cities across the Metroplex, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine and Arlington.
Police across North Texas and Texas DPS formed a task force to break up the ring, with technology giving them their big break.
“Our first substantial leads in this case came from the officers in our Real Time Crime Center,” said Raynsford.
Police said Flock Safety license plate reading cameras and other surveillance film helped track the stolen cars used in the thefts.
13 suspects connected to the ring have now been arrested and charged with Aggravated Robbery with a Deadly Weapon and Organized Crime Theft of an ATM.
Officials told NBC 5 it took all of North Texas law enforcement to shut these dangerous thefts down.
“Pool our resources, pool our ingenuity and our investigative techniques and able to get these people,” said Raynsford. “Because they were organized, and we had to be organized too.”
