PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Police are trying to figure out who used a forklift to pluck an ATM from the ground in Portland’s northwest warehouse district.

Police responded to the Wells Fargo branch in the 3200 block of Northwest 29th Avenue around 5 a.m. Monday on reports of a security alarm being tripped. Police arrived on scene and found a hole in the ground where the ATM had been set up in the drive-thru lane. There was a path of debris spanning several hundred feet in the parking lot.

Officers searched the area looking for any signs of the ATM, cash or the suspect. As they were driving around, they located an abandoned forklift on a nearby set of railroad tracks along Northwest Guam Street and Northwest 31st Avenue.

 [...] based on the initial investigation no money was stolen. The ATM itself was recovered. 

Full story here.

Hey guys, why are we still doing this? Sure sure, they successfully grabbed the ATM but they didn’t get any money out of it, and now they’re wanted so I label this as unsuccessful. Are you surprised? Does anyone ever successfully steal an ATM, get the cash, and not get caught? Sure we all have that momentary evil thought when we see someone collecting the cash from the MTA card machines, but it doesn’t mean we make a go for the cash! There are systems in place! You think banks would use ATM’s if they were easily robbed? Fuck no, they would not. 

This is a lazy crime. Yes, the forklift is impressive but most of ATM robberies consist of tying one of these machines to the back of your truck and taking off. If you want to make easy cash, then you rob banks. I’m not endorsing bank robbery but that’s what you do. That’s just the right way to go about things. Not only is it an actual crime but it actually requires some planning and execution. Not to mention that it gives you a chance to actually make it out with the money! You know how hard it is to crack open one of these ATM’s? That’s an actual question, I have no idea. All I know is that I have a hard enough time remembering my own PIN number, so I find it hard to believe that I’d be able to manage breaking into any piece of complex machinery.