In an audacious Christmas Eve caper, two men endeavored to pilfer an ATM from a Fort Worth 7-Eleven by fastening it to an SUV with a metal cable, yet their plot was foiled when the machine broke loose during their escape, as Fox News reported; the bungled theft not only left the ATM stranded but also the storefront in disarray, with debris and merchandise thrown asunder.
Approximately 3:45 a.m. was when the suspects struck, employing a stolen SUV, and even after successfully dragging the ATM through the shattered glass doors, it became unhitched along the Interstate 30 service road, between S. Cherry Lane and Las Vegas Trail, this detail coming from FOX 7 Austin; subsequently, police located the abandoned vehicle, which had been pilfered from a Dallas apartment complex a mere hour before the attempted heist.
Amidst the havoc of the holiday season, law enforcement is piecing together the likelihood of these rogues being linked to a spate of similar crimes in the area, as there have been multiple reports of ATM thefts involving stolen SUVs and a duo of suspects described by authorities as male, clad in black hoodies and pants, with face masks, and distinguished by their different colored sneakers—one in white, the other in black.
Local law enforcement, including White Settlement Police Chief Cook, intimates a connection between this incident and others in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, noting that one of the convenience store owners, a repeated target, "He’s been hit three times. He’s got a lot of convenient stores in Dallas-Fort Worth," he asserted in a statement obtained by FOX 7 Austin, "He really feels like the same people were involved" Cook added that they're hopeful for a tip-off since, "These bad guys, they brag about something like this they tell these stories, and so we’re hopeful that one of their so-called friends you know does the right thing, gives us a tip, even if it’s anonymous, they’re eligible for a cash reward and that might lead us to the path of getting them identified."
Anyone with information is urged to reach out to Detective Geovanny Ramirez at 817-246-7070, ext. 420, or submit anonymous tips to Tarrant County Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS; these efforts not only could assist in apprehending those responsible but also potentially avert future attempts.
