TOBYHANNA TOWNSHIP -- Thieves in the Poconos stole an ATM right out of a business. The crime happened early Sunday morning at the Pinewood Deli near Blakeslee.
Owners of the deli tell Newswatch 16 the thieves used a pickup truck and a chain to rip out the front door and ATM from the deli in Tobyhanna Township.
It all happened just after 3 a.m. Sunday. The owners say the crooks made off with the ATM and left them with thousands of dollars in damage.
"I went to the deli to find the front door ripped off. The ATM was ripped out, and there was some destruction from a rack. Products and stuff were all over the place," said Edward Goetze.
Goetze tells Newswatch 16 the crooks used a pickup truck to break down the door and rip out the ATM.
"They attached it to the back of a truck somehow with either a chain or a rope and they just literally ripped it out, pulled it right out the door. They took the whole door with them and the ATM."
Between the busted door, the ripped-out ATM, and the mess that was left inside, owners at the deli say the thieves caused a couple thousand dollars' worth of damage.
"Probably close to $5,000 worth of damage, once all is said and done," said Goetze.
Goetze says ATM thefts are becoming more frequent in this area, and that's why he was skeptical about installing one in his deli last year, but he never thought his shop would get hit.
"I said, 'Really?' I never wanted an ATM for the 19 years I've been in business. I never wanted an ATM just for this reason and last year I said, well, I'll try it. Well, now, I'm done."
If you have information about the ATM theft from the Pinewood Deli, you should call the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department.