We keep seeing these ATM smash and grab robberies, one after the other, across Northeast Ohio.
But a 911 call yesterday has helped catch three criminals right in the act of busting open a few stolen ATMs.
Police believe one of those ATMs might belong to the BP gas station on Fleet Avenue. The store manager there couldn’t meet us for an interview, but said told us over the phone, this type of robbery has happened to them for the past couple of years now, but it’s the first time the ATM has actually been found.
Two of the three men responsible are still at large, but one is now in custody, all thanks to one neighbor.
“They’re beating on something ok, they’re beating on something,” said the woman on the dispatch call living near the abandoned home where the ATMs were found.
It all happened outside the abandoned apartment building on East 99th street and Tanner Court in Cleveland.
Officers say the suspects smashed into a BP gas station at 3 a.m. Monday morning, then fled the scene to the vacant building.
That’s when they got the call from a woman complaining about the loud noise.
“There’s a bunch of young men, I don’t know what they’re doing and they’re pounding on something. I don’t know what they’re doing but it’s not something you’d be doing at this time in the morning,” the woman said.
That noise was the men cracking open the ATMS to get the money out.
“That’s the place where a lot of dumping is done and stolen cars,” the woman explained.
When police arrived on the scene, the three men ran and officers were only able to catch 21-year-old Malik Ward in the cultural gardens.
It’s unclear if any of the men are connected to the other smash and grabs around the city this year.
