Safe not so sound : ATM stolen from Bella Vista bank
Posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/63338/
BELLA VISTA — Early Monday morning, thieves drove a 30, 000-pound piece of construction equipment to the Pulaski Bank on Riordan Road, then used the equipment to tear an automated teller machine from its moorings so they could carry it away in a pickup truck.
Police responded to the scene at 2: 25 a. m., arriving just seven minutes after the alarm company was alerted to a problem, and only four minutes after the company called police. But the thieves and the 3, 200-pound ATM were gone.
The only things at the bank were the bolts that once held the moneydispensing machine and a Caterpillar 930-G front-end loader, stolen earlier in the morning from an Arco Excavating job on Benton County Road 40.
Investigators — after examining several photos of the theft that were captured by the bank and ATM cameras — determined that at least two men used a heavy chain attached to the Caterpillar to pull the ATM loose, then place it in the bed of a Dodge pickup truck. Like the heavy equipment, the truck was also stolen.
“ When they yanked (the ATM ) out, it cut all the wires to the cameras, ” Bella Vista Police Chief Jim Wozniak said.
He said police have three photos from the ATM machine and about a dozen from another security camera. The images are being analyzed.
Bella Vista police officers Robert Krantz and Kelly Wallace were the first to arrive at the scene.
After notifying bank employees about the theft, police asked other law-enforcement agencies for help in finding the thieves and / or the ATM.
About two hours later, Benton County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Randy Allsup located the ATM and a black Dodge pickup truck on Sunset Drive in Bella Vista, the site of the former Sunset Hotel, Wozniak said.
The machine looked as if the crooks had dropped it, trying to get it open, the chief said.
“ No cash was taken, ” said Beth Ardoin, executive vice president and director of communications for Pulaski Bank. “ They were unable to open the ATM. It had not been compromised. ”
In fact, Ardoin said the machine, with only minor repairs, could be placed back into operation very soon.
The bank declined to reveal how much money was in the machine.
In the 31 years that he worked for the Police Department, Wozniak can’t remember ever having a bank robbery. This is the first time anyone has stolen an ATM in Bella Vista, he said.
“ We’ve had people beat on ATMs, trying to break in, but we haven’t had anyone take one, ” Wozniak said.
The stolen front-end loader had to be driven from its Benton County Road 40 location to the bank that morning, and it would not have gotten there quickly.
It can go about 25 to 30 mph, said Heath Taylor, an owner of Arco Excavating.
The police and Taylor believe somebody might have seen the big piece of equipment rumbling down the highway.
“ It’s not normal for a loader to be headed down the road at 2 to 3 in the morning, ” Taylor said.
As for stealing the loader, Taylor said that might not have been that difficult. It only takes one key to start any piece of Caterpillar road equipment, he said. The key can be purchased from any Caterpillar dealer.
Anyone who might have seen the loader on the road early Monday morning or has any other information about the theft is asked to call the Bella Vista Police Department at 855-3771.