News4 has learned that the suspects targeting ATMs at 7-Eleven stores in the DMV are believed to be using a stolen police radio to evade law enforcement. There have been at least 14 such crimes in the last three days, six of them just Wednesday morning. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports that one jurisdiction has just announced it is devoting a full-time detective unit to catch the brazen thieves.
Thieves have targeted the ATMs of at least 13 7-Eleven convenience stores and a liquor store in the D.C. area since Sunday. Six of those stores were targeted early Wednesday.
The thieves are described as organized and sophisticated. They work fast and are believed to be using a stolen police radio to avoid getting caught, according to law enforcement sources.
Police said the thieves use firefighters’ tools such as heavy-duty pry bars and a portable hydraulic spreader, known as the Jaws of Life – which is usually used to free people from the wreckage of car crashes. The DC Fire Academy was recently burglarized of similar equipment.
The thieves intimidate employees and try to disable security systems, but not always successfully.
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A clerk at the 7-Eleven on South Dakota Avenue in Northeast D.C. said three people came into the store at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and shouted orders.
“[He] said ‘Don’t move!’ He give orders, said, ‘Don’t move. Just sit!’” the clerk said.
The men used a power tool to break into the ATM and ran off with cash. They tried to destroy some of the store's computer and surveillance equipment and then took off, the clerk said.
D.C. police released this photo of the suspects and their SUV.
The ATMs hit this week were left smashed and battered.
A 7-Eleven in the City of Hyattsville was hit twice within days. Security video from one robbery shows someone wearing a black hoodie using the Jaws of Life to pry open the store’s ATM.
In addition to the ATM, the suspects stole the store’s computer card registers, so the store could only take cash afterward.
“It’s absurd to think that these criminals are up all night while our communities are asleep, committing violent crimes and traumatizing the employees of these commercial establishments, who are out there to make sure our community has resources 24 hours a day,” City of Hyattsville Police Chief Jarod Towers said. “And these violent offenders are just taking advantage of that opportunity.”
Prince George's County police tell News4 a group of detectives will now be pursue the thieves full-time. The department is working with federal and local law enforcement across D.C., Maryland and Virginia to find the criminals.
"In addition, patrol officers who work the overnight hours have been directed to focus their patrols on 7-Eleven stores in their assigned beats. The PGPD is also in communication with officials at 7-Eleven as well as the companies that make and manage the ATMs to discuss ways to better protect the machines and store employees," Prince George's police said.
