Police Identify 18-Year-Old Suspect In Latest Attempted ATM Theft; Businesses Advised To Take Precautions As Thieves Target Stores

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore Police said a antheral falsely identified himself arsenic a juvenile pursuing his apprehension for the attempted theft of an ATM astatine a convenience store adjacent Druid Hill Park.

Police arrested 18-year-old Said Hamza and charged him with commercialized burglary and different offenses. He is the lone idiosyncratic arrested successful transportation to the smash-and-grab transgression successful the 2300-block of Orem Avenue conscionable aft 6 a.m. Sunday. Police said a van was utilized to plow done the beforehand of the store.

Progress being made fixing the partition astatine this convenience store adjacent Druid Hill Park aft idiosyncratic drove a van done it trying to bargain the ATM @wjz pic.twitter.com/Va7yRlZICT

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 8, 2021

READ MORE: 'It's A Product Of The Times Really, People Are Getting More & More Desperate': 2 Attempted ATM Thefts Reported Friday

Workers spent Monday cleaning up the mess. It is the latest successful a drawstring of ATM thefts crossed the Baltimore region.

Smash and Grab: Suspects Use Van As Battering Ram, Plow Through Baltimore Pharmacy In Latest ATM Theft https://t.co/jcNf1l9qwI #Baltimore #crime @wjz

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 4, 2021

Thieves person agelong considered ATMs a speedy and casual target. According to instrumentality enforcement, they bargain trucks and vans past smash them into stores and rapidly permission with the machines.

In 1 lawsuit successful Prince George’s County, the suspects pulled up successful a van, got retired and attached 1 extremity of a concatenation to the ATM. The different was fastened to the tow hitch. After a fewer pulls, they were capable to rip unfastened the machine. The full process took conscionable 2 minutes.

WJZ spoke to David Tente, the enforcement manager of the ATM Industry Association, which has been pushing for tougher penalties. “One radical volition conscionable bash it often capable until they get bully astatine it. Once they do, it adjacent becomes much profitable,“ Tente told Hellgren. “They’re seeing the crooks get retired close distant and beryllium capable to perpetrate different transgression the adjacent day. …The penalties are precise often considered conscionable spot crimes. If you bargain a candy barroom oregon bargain $10,000 from an ATM, sometimes the punishment is the same, and that conscionable doesn’t marque sense.”

The enforcement manager of the ATM Industry Association has been advocating for tougher penalties for ATM thefts. Federal authorities often bash not get involved. #ATM #Baltimore @wjz pic.twitter.com/UEK8iGTNwS

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 9, 2021

Tente said arsenic exertion improves the information features connected ATMs “the crooks don’t springiness up, they conscionable effort thing else. We spot a batch of these attacks present are little and little tech.”

While Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said ATM thefts year-over-year successful Baltimore City are down much than 50 percent, nationwide, cases person much than doubled.

READ MORE: Smash and Grab: Suspects Use Van As Battering Ram, Plow Through Baltimore Pharmacy In Latest ATM Theft

Some of these machines transportation $20,000 successful cash. They person been adjacent much wide utilized during the pandemic erstwhile immoderate banks kept their lobbies closed.

“We effort to person radical not to enactment ATMs by the beforehand window. They’re amended disconnected towards the backmost of the store—especially if it’s a smaller store. The further it is distant from the beforehand conscionable makes it harder for those folks to drawback it. And also, the ATM needs to beryllium fastened down to the level oregon the partition precise securely. If thing else, that slows them down and it gives much of an accidental for authorities to amusement up and halt the transgression successful progress. They volition deed stores aft hours truthful there’s cipher determination and that doesn’t summation the penalties. It again turns into much of a spot transgression than thing other truthful the punishment is little terrible if they bash get caught.”

Store owners person been advised to determination ATMs distant from doors and windows if they can. Baltimore has experienced galore smash and drawback ATM thefts successful caller weeks. @wjz pic.twitter.com/syxQstYuj2

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 9, 2021

The spot harm tin beryllium extensive, with replacement ATMs costing much than $30,000. Storefronts are often ripped open, which is what happened astatine the Walgreens connected York Road past week

SMASH AND GRAB ATM THEFT: Police are searching for the radical down it. The beforehand of the York Road Walgreens successful North Baltimore smashed in. The latest astatine noon connected #WJZ and CBSNBaltimore. @wjz pic.twitter.com/KnzLa49hv7

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 4, 2021

According to an FBI briefing successful Houston, wherever determination person been an alarming fig of these thefts, criminals favour stolen vehicles similar Ford and Chevy trucks and vans. They lawsuit retired the stores earlier making their move.

Some insurers pass concern owners rates could beryllium connected the emergence due to the fact that of the thefts. A fig of banks are taking other information measures including utilizing tracking devices and exploding ink wrong of the ATMs.

Despite the issues, Tente does not deliberation store owners volition region the currency machines from their businesses. “Especially for the smaller stores, that ATM is simply a large plus to them due to the fact that it does bring radical into the store. My conjecture is astir volition instrumentality the atrocious with the bully and bash the champion they tin to effort and trim transgression successful their area.”

MORE NEWS: Thieves Target Another ATM In Baltimore County, Fifth Reported Incident In Last Month, Police Say