Another local ATM machine robbed

The Linden Police Department reported “on January 17, 2021, Sunday morning, at approximately 03:20 a.m. a burglary occurred at the Texar ATM located on US Hwy. 59 in Linden, Texas. Officers arrived on the scene and observed a Ford F350 white in color in front of the ATM with a chain attached to the back of it, the chain was used to pull the vault door off of the ATM allowing the suspects access to the money boxes inside.”

On February 1, Chief Eric Lee said there were no new updates other than there had been a new ATM robbery in the DeKalb area. Several area news sites have documented several ATM burglaries over the past few year’s there have been several noted ATM robberies in the area. Last month there were two reported in Gatesville, near Killeen and Sherman near Dallas.

In an article from TexasBankers.com, titled “ATM Theft – Why steal the cookie when you can steal the cookie jar?” Criminals try twice a week, on average, to steal machines around Dallas citing a story from the Dallas Morning News.”

“They have hit convenience stores, hotels, gas stations, pharmacies, and restaurants in all sections of the city. The New York Post earlier this year reported on a gang of ATM bandits who stole 73 machines over 12 months, netting hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Alvin Mills, Vice President of Information, Technology & Security from TexasBankers. com, says “there aren’t a whole lot of statistics on ATM theft in America, but using a very conservative assumption of 50 ATM thefts per day nationwide and allowing $2,500 for the ATM and $10,000 for repairs and loss of business, the cost of crash and grab theft comes to $625,000 per day, $19 million per month, $228 million per year, according to ATM Marketplace. And that’s just property loss.”