A theft is being investigated in Philadelphia after two suspects threatened a worker at a deli and stole an ATM, according to police, amid a spate of similar thefts in the city.
The Philadelphia Police Department posted a surveillance video of the theft on YouTube and said in the video description that two unknown men entered Martinez Deli located on the corner of 200 W Olney Avenue on Thursday.
The surveillance video posted to YouTube showed the men wearing black jackets coming out of a dark grey Toyota that they parked on one side of the street.
The men then entered the deli, according to the video, and shortly afterwards one of the two men came out of the deli with the ATM.
Police said that one of the men approached the counter and threatened the deli worker with a black handgun, while the second suspect "went to the rear of the deli and forcibly removed the ATM and dragged it outside of the premises" to place it in the car.
A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson told Newsweek on Saturday that no arrests have been made yet.
An increase in ATM thefts has been reported in Philadelphia with the police saying that at least five other machines have been stolen since late September, according to local news station WPVI-TV.
Last weekend, another ATM was stolen at a Sunoco on Girard Avenue near North 6th Street in the city's Northern Liberties neighborhood, police said.
Employees at the store told WPVI-TV that three thieves wearing ski masks stole the ATM inside the store, dragged it to their SUV, and fled the scene. No injuries were reported in the incident.
In a separate incident on November 3, a person stole an ATM from a gas station on the 6200 block of North Broad Street. The suspect was masked and broke a window to get inside and rip the ATM out of the store despite being bolted to the ground.
Additionally, two robbers stole an ATM on September 29 after breaking into Wissahickon Brewing on the 3700 block of School House Lane.
"I never even thought that someone would steal our ATM," said Peter Gill, the co-owner of Wissahickon Brewing, according to the local news station. No details were revealed about whether those thefts were connected.
"Obviously, we investigate all ATM incidents. Depending on the incident, and if a pattern is detected, we may increase patrols in the area or other law enforcement agencies may get involved," the Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson added on Saturday.
Meanwhile in July, the remains of an ATM hanging from a forklift outside a credit union was found in Oklahoma, according to police. Most of the ATM, along with the money inside, was loaded into a vehicle and driven away. Photos from the crime scene showed the forklift left behind with bits of the bank machine still dangling.
Police told local news outlets that robbers used a forklift to impale the ATM through its front screen and rip it from the ground outside a Tulsa Teachers Credit Union (TTCU) in Bixby. No details were revealed about the number of suspects involved in this incident.
Last November, a man in Las Vegas allegedly stole an ATM by tying it to the back of a pickup truck and driving away.
Update [11/19/2022] 5:03 p.m.: This article has been updated to include comments from the Philadelphia Police Department.
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