Arrests may be connected to string of ATM smash-and-grab robberies at 7-Eleven stores across DC area
SILVER SPRING, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Police may have arrested several men connected to a string of automatic teller machine smash-and-grab robberies at 7-Eleven stores in different parts of Maryland and D.C. The developments come after an early morning crash following the disruption by officers of another possible ATM robbery in Montgomery County.
Authorities in Montgomery County say undercover officers near a 7-Eleven on Lockwood Drive in the Silver Spring area spotted a suspicious vehicle pull into the parking lot of the store around 3:45 a.m. Tuesday. Anticipating a robbery attempt, officers say they intervened and were able to apprehend two of the suspects nearby as they fled. The third suspect fled in the vehicle, a black pickup truck, onto northbound Route 29. Police say the driver drove onto Interstate-495 where they were involved in a crash.
Before they arrested the men early this morning, officers who were staking out the store say the suspects appeared to use spray paint to cover the lens of the security cameras inside. Surveillance video shows the men using the paint to cover the cameras.
Authorities have investigated several similar incidents over the past months in the District and in surrounding counties.
Just last week, police say thieves stole an ATM from a 7-Eleven on Tech Road in Silver Spring.
On April 30, a similar robbery occurred around 3:09 a.m. at the 7-Eleven Store located on New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring.
On April 26, police investigated an attempted smash-and-grab robbery of an automatic teller machine at a 7-Eleven store on South Dakota Avenue in Northeast, D.C.
On April 17, a 7-Eleven store clerk was assaulted during attempted ATM smash-and-grab along Varnum Street in the Mount Rainier area of Prince George's County in April.
On April 10, also in Prince George's County, police say three men in a pickup truck crashed into a 7-Eleven on Watkins Park Drive in Kettering, Maryland and attempted to steal the ATM inside.
On March 13 in Prince George's County, an ATM heist was reported at a 7-Eleven store in Lanham. Police thieves using a pickup truck drove into the store front, pushed the ATM into the back of the vehicle and drove off. Police say they later found the stolen ATM and others on fire. A similar incident was reported on March 2 at a 7-Eleven on the 1900 block of Michigan Avenue in D.C.
On February 17, police say an ATM smash-and-grab was reported on New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring. On February 15, thieves used a pickup truck to try to steal an ATM machine from a 7-Eleven store in the 2800 Block of Bladensburg Road in D.C.
On January 19, police reported another similar incident involving a stolen pickup truck being used to smash into a 7-Eleven on Cedar Street in Northwest, D.C. The thieves, police say, jumped out pushed the ATM into the bed of the truck, and drove away.