Police in Bloomfield New Jersey are looking into the smash-and-grab theft of an ATM from a local store last month.
According to officials, the suspects drove a Jeep Cherokee through the front window of the Family Dollar Store located at 600 Bloomfield Avenue. Store employees saw the damage the following morning and immediately contacted Bloomfield police.
Police obtained surveillance footage that reportedly shows a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee Sport and a white Porsche Cayenne pulling up to the store around 4:30 a.m.
According to police, the video footage shows the Jeep ramming the front window of the Dollar Store. Two men then got out of the vehicles, walked into the store, and took the ATM. The vehicles left the scene with the ATM a short time later.
Police discovered the ATM in Newark NJ that same day. Investigators with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Crime Lab processed the ATM and are currently examining it for clues. At this time, it is unclear precisely how much money was stolen from the ATM.
Police have not yet identified any suspects in the case. If the suspects are eventually identified and located, they could be subject to significant criminal charges for theft of movable property and burglary. As set forth by N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3, theft of movable property may be classified as a third degree criminal offense if the stolen property has a value of more than $500.
The recent Bloomfield Dollar Store theft may be connected to several similar smash-and-grab thefts in the area. A Bloomfield police sergeant said that there were similar thefts in Newark last year, in Clifton in January, and in Bloomfield in February.
For more information about the Bloomfield Dollar Store theft case, see the NJ.com article entitled “SUV Smashed Through Bloomfield Dollar Store to Steal ATM, Cops Say.”
