PLANO, Texas — Plano police and SWAT officers have arrested eight people in connection to what they called an organized ATM theft operation throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
“All over DFW and who knows if they had even gone anywhere else so very active," Jennifer Chapman, a public information officer for Plano police said. “That’s what makes it a little more difficult to kind of follow.”
The suspects were arrested at about 6 a.m. June 1 while actively burglarizing an ATM machine at a 7-Eleven convenience store in the 900 block of Fort Worth Drive in Denton. Plano police said the arrests were made as "the result of a multijurisdictional operation whose goal was to bring these suspects to justice."
“We're extremely proud of the officers and the detectives that worked in conjunction with other agencies and partnering with the actual 7-Eleven stores themselves," Chapman said.
It is anticipated that these arrests will result in the clearance of more than 50 ATM theft offenses for many DFW-area law enforcement agencies, Plano police said in a press release.
Before the arrest in Denton, Plano police were investigating a similar burglary at a 7-Eleven store on May 25 in Plano. During this burglary, the suspects backed up a pickup truck to the front of the store, smashed the window, tied a chain around the ATM machine and tore it from the store. The pickup truck used in this burglary was reported stolen from Garland and was later found at a nearby apartment complex, police said.
While investigating the Plano burglary, detectives were able to identify several suspect vehicles and determine specific methods used in these "organized ATM burglaries." Plano police said detectives also discovered similar crimes committed at various locations throughout the metroplex, and multiple agencies were contacted to help with the investigation.
As a result, detectives from Plano, Coppell, Dallas, Euless, Frisco, Garland and Grapevine police departments and the Department of Public Safety, as well as a 7-Eleven Zone Asset Protection Manager, began the collective investigation, which ultimately led to these arrests.
Here are the eight suspects arrested in this investigation:
- 29-year-old Anthony Dewayne Turner, Dallas
- 25-year-old Cortaveya Jean Jackson, Mesquite
- 24-year-old Danaijay Jacoby Derrett, Dallas
- 27-year-old Dominique Marquis Childress, Dallas
- 29-year-old Joseph George Milton Turner, Dallas
- 26-year-old Leroy Alvin Walls, Dallas
- 37-year-old Louis Edward Coleman, DeSoto
- 24-year-old Marlon Briscoe, Dallas
All eight suspects were charged with theft of ATM property under $300,000, a second-degree felony. All have been able to bond out, according to Chapman.
Police are now focused on giving tips to other stores.
“Our crime prevention unit is going to go out and try to what we call harden the targets so we can prevent some of these in the future," Chapman said.
More Texas headlines: