3 arrested after ATM thieves hit Fort Worth-area store in front of employee, vendor
Three suspects were in custody Thursday after Collleyville police say they attempted to steal an ATM from a convenience store.
No injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred about 2 a.m. at 7-Eleven, 3900 Colleyville Blvd. in Colleyville.
A suspect smashed a window and then entered the store as a clerk and a vendor were inside.
“I thought the sunglasses had fallen or some wine bottles had hit the floor,” the clerk told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Thursday, a few hours after the incident. He declined to give his name for fear of retaliation from the suspects.
“I walked to the front, and there was this man in a hoodie, and he had used a hammer to smash the window,” the clerk said. “He had stepped inside and was tying a rope around the ATM.”
Another suspect was in a pickup truck outside, and a third suspect was also in the parking lot.
“He (suspect) looked at me and then kept working on that ATM,” the clerk said. “I never said a word to him. I didn’t try to stop him and be some hero.”
The clerk said the suspects never showed a weapon.
At some point, the clerk said, he saw police lights.
“The suspect in the truck just drove away leaving the other one in the store,” the clerk said. The clerk believes two suspects drove away in the pickup truck.
The suspect in the store fled the scene.
Minutes later, the three suspects were detained, according to Colleyville police.
For hours after the attempted theft, Colleyville police using a K-9 and a drone searched neighborhoods near the store for a possible fourth suspect.
Authorities cleared the neighborhoods just before 8:30 a.m.
The store remained open Thursday.
Colleyville police had not released any information on the suspects.
As for the 7-Eleven clerk, he doesn’t plan to change his work shift.
“I will be back tonight,” the clerk said. “It’s what I do.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 9:37 AM.
