Attempted ATM heist results in two arrests

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This article was published 06/06/2022 (1575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two men are facing various charges after they attempted to steal an ATM from a local business early Monday morning by tying it to the back of a truck and ripping it out of the store.

Around 4:14 a.m., local police responded to an alarm that was triggered at Little Chief’s Place convenience store, which is located on Lyndale Drive south of the Brandon Municipal Cemetery.

Once they arrived on scene, police observed a truck had backed into the front of the store, knocking out the building’s doors and glass windows in the process.

As soon as the suspects noticed the police presence, they sped away in the truck, dragging the ATM along with them.

“However, [the ATM] fell off almost immediately when the vehicle turned south,” Const. Myran Hamm told the Sun later that day.

Following a short, high-speed chase, the suspects ran into a ditch after they tried to make a right turn at Ferguson Road and became stuck in a creek bank.

While the 27-year-old suspect was arrested at the site, the second suspect, who is 34 years old, fled on foot. However, he was eventually picked up by police in the area just before 8 a.m.

When the Sun visited Little Chief’s Place around noon Monday, members of Brandon Maintenance Services were still cleaning up the mess.

Not only had the suspects allegedly punched a big hole through the front of the convenience store, but the interior of the business was also in disarray, with inventory scattered all over the floor.

Police said the suspects had also recently stolen the truck involved in the ATM heist from a business located on the 4800 block of Victoria Avenue East.

The pair are facing many charges, including breaking and entering, theft of an ATM and theft of a motor vehicle.

Hamm told the Sun the suspects could be hit with additional charges, since investigators believe they are responsible for committing numerous other crimes throughout southwestern Manitoba.

Investigators suspect the string of crimes includes an attempted robbery that took place at a local Boston Pizza, located north of the Trans-Canada Highway, in mid-April.

Similar to the incident that occurred at Little Chief’s Place Monday morning, the suspects allegedly tried to steal an ATM by reversing a truck through the front window of the restaurant and tying a rope around the machine.

While they failed to drive away with Boston Pizza’s ATM, the suspects managed to evade the police that time.

But now that the suspects are in custody, Brandon Police Service’s Major Crimes Unit will be working alongside other law enforcement agencies to determine the full extent of their illegal activities.

The suspects appeared in Brandon court Monday afternoon and were remanded into custody for a Thursday court date.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson