Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Thieves commonly use excavation equipment to rip ATMs out of walls.
But a bungling crook in Cork yesterday believed he could hit the jackpot, simply by throwing rocks at one.
Gardaí described the early morning attempt to steal cash from the ATM at the Bank of Ireland branch in Glanmire as "very amateurish".
The sole raider targeted the bank at the Hazelwood Shipping Centre at 3.30am — and gardaí know the precise time as the man’s image was captured by the bank’s CCTV.
He proceeded to hurl a rock at the ATM’s screen, unaware he would never have been able to smash his way through to the back of the machine where the money was secured.
"You would need to tear the machine out of the wall," a senior garda said, "so thieves normally would get a mechanical digger to dislodge it. This was a very amateurish attempt."
Gardaí were also yesterday examining other CCTV footage from nearby businesses to establish how the would-be thief arrived at and departed the shopping centre.
Officers are keen to hear from anybody who may have been in the area at the time, especially taxi drivers.
Anybody with information should contact Glanmire Garda Station at (021) 4821002, or Cobh Garda station at (021) 4908530.
Last August, two men wearing boiler suits and balaclavas were involved in another bungled attempt to steal cash from the same bank. The men were beaten off by a security guard who was delivering cash.
They fled in a car which was later found burnt-out near Glounthaune. Three men and a woman were subsequently arrested in connection with the raid. The investigation is still continuing. A garda spokesman said it was unlikely that the two incidents were linked.
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