BALTIMORE – An ATM theft in East Baltimore Friday afternoon is the latest of continued cases involving the machines.
Baltimore Police Department is searching for three people suspected of stealing an ATM last Friday afternoon from Apache Lounge and Liquor in East Baltimore.
“That’s really risky,” Donald Tusing said.
WJZ has reported extensively on the string of ATM thefts in recent years.
There were more than 30 cases in 2021.
In many of the cases, the thieves used vans or box trucks to remove the machines. Some even crashed into businesses.
“It ain’t nothing new. People get broke and they come out with new, clever ways to get money,” Khalid Joseph said.
“I don’t know, I mean the money, yeah. But what can you do with an ATM machine?” Tusing questioned.
Some of the machines carry up to $20,000 in cash.
“This has been going on for a minute now,” an East Baltimore resident said.
The ATM thefts appear to be picking back up.
Baltimore City police say they’re investigating 10 thefts and 6 attempted thefts in a two-month period to close out this summer.
“It’s just one of those things,” Josephy said. “The only thing someone can do is just chain it up. You see the trend. You got an ATM in your store, chain it up.”
Police said during Friday’s ATM theft that it happened around 4 p.m. and the getaway car was parked right outside the door.
Police are searching for a van with Virginia tags last seen driving south on Milton.”
A similar daytime ATM theft happened at a liquor store on Falls Road in Hampden last month.
“There have to be better opportunities for people out here, because if there aren’t better opportunities, this is the kind of thing they’re going to resort to,” Joseph said.