A U-Haul truck and a chain were used in an apparent attempt to steal an ATM from a Huntington Bank near Broadway and Portage Avenues in Cleveland early Friday morning, and police say the suspect or suspects did not get away with any money. The attempted theft was reported around 5 a.m., according to the initial report from the scene.
Suspects backed the U-Haul into the ATM and tried to pull it loose using a chain attached to the truck, according to FOX 8 Cleveland WJW, which first reported the incident and published photos from the scene. Cleveland police told the station they do not believe anyone made off with cash, though the attempt still left the machine and its housing damaged. The outlet's report, credited to reporter Danielle Langenfeld, did not indicate whether any arrests had been made or whether the U-Haul itself had been reported stolen.
A Broadway Avenue Corridor With a History of ATM Attacks
The Huntington Bank branch involved sits along the same Broadway Avenue commercial corridor as a Slavic Village location at 5703 Broadway Avenue, according to Buzdy business listings. That stretch of road has seen this exact style of crime before. In August 2024, the FBI Cleveland Division put out a public appeal to identify three suspects who allegedly used an ax, a chain, and a stolen 15-foot U-Haul truck to rip an ATM from a PNC Bank at 7101 Broadway Avenue, an incident that happened two years earlier in June 2024, according to the FBI Cleveland Division.
Huntington Bank branches specifically have been targeted before as well. In April 2024, vandals heavily damaged a drive-through ATM at a Huntington Bank on Buckeye Road in Cleveland during a failed attempt to tear the machine from its foundation, per Signal Cleveland. Whether Friday's attempt is connected to either of those earlier cases, or whether surveillance footage links it to other Broadway Avenue heists, remains unknown.
Why the Machines Keep Winning
Despite the heavy equipment and damage involved, these vehicle-assisted ATM attacks frequently fail to yield any cash. ATM manufacturers have engineered internal “blocker kits” and reinforced steel anchoring systems specifically designed to keep tow vehicles from pulling cash dispensers off their mountings, according to an ATM Industry Association post shared on Facebook. That may help explain why Cleveland police believe Friday's suspects left empty-handed despite the damage to the machine.
The tactic is far from rare. A survey by the ATM Industry Association found that more than 67% of responding ATM operators had experienced vehicle-assisted ATM thefts over a 12-month period, according to Credit Union Times. Stolen box trucks in particular have become a recurring tool in Ohio crime more broadly — in July 2026, a stolen U-Haul box truck tied to an armed robbery in Ohio was chased across state lines into Michigan before officers shot the suspect during a standoff, according to ClickOnDetroit.
Potential Charges Suspects Could Face
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2911.31, safe-cracking — knowingly forcing entrance into or tampering with a vault, safe, or strongbox with intent to commit an offense — is charged as a fourth-degree felony under state law, according to Justia Law. But because the target was a bank-operated ATM, federal exposure looms larger: stealing or attempting to steal cash from a bank ATM can trigger federal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. Section 2113, the federal bank robbery statute, which carries penalties of up to 20 years in federal prison, per Eisner Gorin LLP. It is not yet clear whether local police or federal authorities will take the lead on the investigation into Friday's incident.
ATM-related crime in the region has taken other forms too. In October 2024, two masked suspects robbed an ATM service technician at gunpoint while he was servicing a Chase Bank ATM in the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid, making off with master keys capable of accessing multiple regional bank ATMs, according to a video posted to the Cleveland, Ohio Remembrance Page. Together, the cases underscore how cash machines across the city remain a persistent target, whether by brute force or by more targeted theft of technician credentials.
Part of a National Pattern
Cleveland's Broadway Avenue incident lands amid a wave of similar smash-and-grab ATM heists reported elsewhere this year, from a Baltimore excavator ATM burglary to vehicle-ramming ATM thefts in Chicago. Escalating physical attacks on cash machines nationwide have driven bipartisan congressional efforts to pass legislation explicitly designating all commercial ATM thefts as federal bank robberies, according to Hoodline's prior reporting. For now, Cleveland police have not released any suspect descriptions or announced arrests connected to Friday's attempted theft.
