ATM Thieves Steal Truck in Lafayette, Strike Bank in Another Louisiana Parish

Loreauville, LA (KPEL News) - Thieves who have been ripping ATMs out of businesses in Louisiana are getting bolder. The problem is plaguing not only Acadiana but the entire country.

Acadia, St. Martin, Lafayette, Evangeline, St. Landry, and now Iberia Parish authorities are looking for the crew stealing heavy duty trucks and then using them to yank money machines out of businesses. The criminals then dump the truck and what's left of the ATM in an area that is not well-traveled.

Until last week, they targeted stores with ATMs in them.

Eddie Thibodeaux with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office said investigators were dealing with more than a half dozen of these thefts that had occurred over a two month period. Detectives there were collaborating with their counterparts in other parishes to find the people responsible for stealing the machines.

St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz told the media previously that the thieves use primitive tactics, like wearing ski masks, to avoid identification. However, he and his department were developing plans to nab them.

This time, the bad guys stole a Ford F-250 truck in Lafayette Parish, drove it to Loreauville, and ripped out a freestanding ATM at a bank.

Iberia Parish Sheriff's deputies responded to an alarm at Community First Bank on North Main Street in Loreauville at 3 AM on Friday, February 2, 2024. When they arrived they discovered that the ATM on the bank property had been "forcefully removed."

The ATM machine and the vehicle they used to pull it out with were later recovered on Ed Broussard Road.

Anyone with information, no matter how insignificant, is asked to call police in your area to help catch these audacious criminals.