Five Arrested for Attempted ATM Theft in Baton Rouge
The past several months have seen a disturbing trend in very brazen attempts to steal money. Usually, you think of the middle of the night bank robbery as something that would be quiet and stealthlike. That is not the case in the latest round of robbers rounded up by Baton Rouge police yesterday.
Police in Louisiana's capital city arrested five individuals yesterday on charges surround attempted thefts of ATM machines from several Chase Bank locations in the city. The five individuals were thought to be operating out of stolen vehicles at the time of the alleged crimes.
Naturally, there is speculation that an attempted ATM heist at a Chase Bank Branch in Lafayette early Sunday morning might be related to the attempted crimes in Baton Rouge. As of now, law enforcement agencies are investigating but there has yet to be a clear connection between the two incidents.
Earlier this year and late last year similar crimes were reported several times in the Lake Charles area. Again with the same modus operandi. The thieves use a truck or other vehicle to literally rip the ATM off its foundation. In Lake Charles, there were actually reports of stolen ATM devices being towed in a shower of sparks behind a speeding pickup truck.
In the case of the Lake Charles crimes, they were traced back to alleged gang activity from Houston. All of the five arrested in Baton Rouge are from the Houston area. There has been no connection made between alleged gang activity and the crimes in Baton Rouge so far.