Austrian Police Break Gang of Criminals that Targeted ATMs

    July 29, 2005
    Group used gas to explode ATMs, then crossed borders in stolen cars

    Source Associated Press

    VIENNA, Austria -- Police have broken up a gang of Italian criminals responsible for blowing up cash machines in Austria, officials said Friday.

    The gang that operated in the western provinces of Styria, Carinthia and Salzburg is believed responsible for blowing up at least five cash machines and stealing the money, said criminal police officer Erich Zwettler.

    The burglars used a special gas for the explosions of the automated teller machines situated in the entrance halls of small bank branches in cities close to the border with Italy. They then used stolen cars to quickly cross the border.

    Police estimated the total amount of money stolen at euro350,000 (US $420,000), with damage totaling almost the same amount.

    Three of the gang were arrested last May when they attempted to steal a car in the Tyrollean city of Schwaz.

    On Friday, police in the Italian city of Udine arrested the wife of the alleged leader of the gang. She had been recognized on a security camera videotape, showing her entering one of the bank branches with an AK-47 automatic rifle in her hand.

    A fifth member of the gang, a 27-year-old Italian, is still at large, police said.