In a heist straight out of a slapstick caper, a group of burglars attempted to steal an ATM from a Walgreens in University Place, only to leave a trail of evidence behind. The Pierce County Sheriff's Department reported that early on December 3rd, just around 3:30 am, deputies responded to a burglary at the Walgreens located at the 2600 block of Bridgeport Way West. Witnesses on the scene described a chaotic escape as a stolen truck, with suspects aboard, was seen dragging an ATM down 27th Street West after it had been forcibly removed from the store.
According to the Sheriff's Department blog, a sheriff's deputy located a second truck involved in the burglary in a residential area, as suspects attempted to recover the ATM that had broken free from the first truck's chains. The suspects fled, abandoning the ATM on the street, and though the second truck managed to get away, it was later found unoccupied in Tacoma. This attempted theft was not an isolated event but rather a coordinated burglary involving several suspects and multiple vehicles.
The department has reached out to the public for assistance in identifying the suspects. They have encouraged anyone with information regarding the attempted burglary or the trucks used in the incident to contact their Crime Stoppers. "We would love to get any tips from the community on who these suspects are or the trucks involved," the Sheriff's Department relayed in their statement. The damage inflicted on the store runs into the thousands, and law enforcement is eager to prevent such events from occurring in the future.
Anyone with potential leads is urged to make an anonymous tip. Community engagement is critical as the investigation moves forward and the department hopes to bring the responsible parties to justice. Residents can contribute information that might thwart potential future heists and help protect their neighborhood businesses from criminal activity. The Sheriff's Department underscores its resolve in the blog post, "We want to ensure they don’t do something like this again."
