WARMINGTON: Crime doesn't always pay for Ontario ATM thieves
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CAMPBELLVILLE — Sometimes crime pays.
But not always.
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Sometimes criminals get a taste of their own medicine — as was the case at Cristello’s Country Market grocery and LCBO just west of Milton.
“The people behind this actually backed their truck right into the front door of the store and knocked it down,” said Det.-Sgt. Ellie Bale of Halton Regional Police.
Their goal was the ATM machine inside the store.
They were not successful.
“Most stores have the ATM right by the door,” said a staffer Wednesday.
“We had ours in the middle of the store and they were unable to grab it in time.”
They got nothing. But they did leave behind a hell of a mess — the remnants of which are still on full display.
“This is how these criminals do it these days,” said the staffer.
“They just knock down the walls.”
“There have been five ATMs targeted in recent weeks,” said Bale.
“If someone has information who is behind it, please let us know.
“These are organized,” said Bale. “There are several of them involved. In some cases they try to break the machines apart with sledge hammers and pry bars to get at the cash inside. In others they use blow torches.”
Police have released photos of suspects in three Milton ATM robbery attempts — two in drug stores and one in a grocery store.
In at least one of those the joke was on the thieves.
Knowing what had happened elsewhere, turns out one store made sure there was no money in the machine at all.
Meanwhile this is not the only unusual crime trend in Halton in recent weeks. Bale tells me of another organized group has been waiting under the cover of night to steal tractors and trailers.
“There have been 14 occurrences reported during this time range resulting in the theft of five tractors and 10 trailers from the area,” said Bale. “These occurrences have primarily been occurring just north of Hwy. 401 near Regional Road 25 and James Snow Pkwy. The vehicles are generally being recovered in Peel Region or the west end of Toronto.”
In today’s world of technology, however, criminals are not always protected by the cover of darkness — a Feb. 18 incident was captured on video.
Four suspects attended an unsecured truck lot in Milton driving a dark-coloured four-door sedan and a light-coloured, two-tone 2006 Buick Rendezvous.
One gained entry into an unlocked tractor and used it to steal two trailers from a separate lot in Milton.
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The hauls have included food, hygiene and beauty products, industrial supplies, aluminum, forklifts and designer products like Michael Kors purses and handbags.
They are “very expensive products” that reputable businesses imported at great expense, only to see them stolen and sold on the black market, said Bale.
Maybe you know one of these criminals behind the ATM or the tractor trailer heists?
Bale and her team are waiting for a call.
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