Stolen ATMs Turning up in Boston Metro Area

    Dec. 23, 2005
    Organized theft team appears to be striking ATMs located at convenience stores
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    In what police believe is the work of a skilled team of bandits operating in parts of New England, six stolen ATMs were found in the Lawrence area this week, including one stolen from a New Hampshire supermarket by thieves driving a Methuen School Department van, complete with blue state license plates.

    Lawrence Police Chief John J. Romero said yesterday that five battered hulks of ATMs were found inside an abandoned house on Prospect street on Monday.

    A neighbor called police after hearing noise coming from the house, and reported seeing three men, including one with a sledgehammer, leave before police arrived, Romero said.

    "They are completely smashed in," Romero said of the ATMs recovered in his city. "They probably used the sledgehammer to break open the machines."

    Romero said detectives have determined the origin of three of the stolen ATMs: Lowell, Lynn and Methuen. A fourth probably was stolen in Rockland, and the fifth was still being scrutinized yesterday, he said. Investigators believe the thefts took place over the last two weeks.

    Methuen Police Lieutenant Michael J. Wnek said the thieves appear to be sophisticated and patient and may be responsible for similar robberies in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Authorities believe the heists have netted tens of thousands of dollars.

    "There is a level of planning involved," Wnek said. "You can see the level of sophistication. They do their homework. . . . They know where the alarm systems are, they know where the cameras are, and they have some working knowledge as to how to defeat them."

    Depending on their style and the services they provide consumers, ATMs can weigh upwards of 300 pounds and are routinely bolted to the floor when they are installed, according to manufacturers' websites and police.

    Also on Monday, Haverhill police spotted a blue Ford van owned by the Methuen School Department that was reported stolen from a School Department lot on Dec. 16. Inside that van, they found the torched and mangled remains of an ATM stolen from a Demoulas supermarket in Plaistow, N.H., earlier this week, officials said.

    Wnek said yesterday police are investigating the possibility that the thieves who hit Plaistow in the stolen van also stole an ATM from a private social club in his city sometime early Monday. The ATM from the private social club was found in Lawrence.

    He said the thieves who robbed the social club demonstrated their skill by defeating an alarm system, prying open the door, and then apparently wheeling the ATM out of the Combination Street building on a dolly. Wnek said the thieves appear to be deliberately ignoring bank ATMs. "It will be a lot harder to defeat a bank security system than it would be a private social club," said Wnek.

    J. Jeffrey Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, said that 80 percent of the nation's 138,000 convenience stores have ATMs. He suggested that ATMs are targeted because store owners limit the amount of money available in cash registers.