PLANO, Texas — Plano police are searching for a group of robbers that stole money after ripping an ATM from a store with a pickup truck.
The Plano Police Department responded to a burglary call in the 3600 block of 14th Street, where a Shell gas station is located, at approximately 6:21 a.m. on May 25.
The department said three to four suspects – dressed in dark clothing, hoods, and gloves – backed a pickup truck to the front of the store while the clerk was standing at the counter, smashed the glass near the ATM and wrapped a chain around the machine. The truck then ripped the ATM through the store's front glass.
Police said the ATM was "breached in the process" and cash was stolen. The suspects fled the scene in the truck and turned onto Ada Lane just to the east of the store.
Since this robbery happened just after sunrise, there was significant vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the area, police said. A witness captured video from across the street, and officers located the abandoned pickup truck at an apartment off of Ada Street and 14th Street. The truck is believed to have been stolen from Garland but it had not yet been reported, Plano police said.
Plano police said two other 7-Elevens were targeted in the last two months, and multiple agencies across the DFW area are investigating similar crimes.
A very similar account happened at a 7-Eleven in Coppell two weeks prior. In the Coppell robbery, police said witnesses reported seeing a dark color truck back up to the store with four or five people inside wearing ski masks, hoodies and gloves. The suspects also broke the window of the store and tied the ATM with a cable and tied it off to the suspect vehicle.
The group tried to drive away with the ATM but the cable broke. The suspects then fled the scene in the truck, leaving the ATM at the store, according to Coppell police.
Police have not officially linked the two robberies.
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