NEW ORLEANS — Dramatic security video shows two people breaking into an ATM at a Lakeview gas station using a power tool. There have been several high-profile thefts of the same nature in the last year, including two at that very gas station.
“It’s crazy,” said Awais “Ali” Sulehri, who manages Lakeview Food and Gas. He and his brother, who owns the business, were woken up to a phone call from police around 4 a.m. Monday.
They arrived at the convenience store to find the “ATM cut up.” The thieves had left the “wires messed up” and the alarm system damaged as well, according to Sulehri.
Evidence around the store shows what led up to the theft. The two suspects began by leaning a ladder against the side of the convenience store which damaged the gutter. They used a cutting tool to break through a roof door that leads to the shop’s attic.
Once inside, security video shows one of them try and fail to pry open the office door. The other plugs in the tool, which appears to be a saw or angle grinder, and goes to work on the ATM. For about eight minutes, sparks fly around the masked intruder, until the door springs open and the two make off with the cash box inside. “I think they are professionals,” Sulehri said with a laugh.
This is the third time since acquiring the gas station 8 months ago that the Sulehris have dealt with an ATM theft. “The first time they came through the door, they broke the lock, second time they came through the side door, broke the lock,” said Sulehri. The second time, the thieves took the entire ATM.
It is a crime that got a lot of attention in early 2023. ATMs were stolen or broken into at many spots around the city, including Tastee Donuts on Esplanade Avenue, where the suspects drove a truck through the wall before making off with the machine.
State lawmakers even passed a law upping the jail time for people convicted of ATM theft. “This is more like a bank robbery with the amount of money that is stolen and the amount of damage that's done,” State Rep. Tony Bacala, who sponsored the bill. It went into effect in August of 2023.
The NOPD could not confirm whether this most recent ATM theft was connected to others. As of Wednesday, there is still no suspect. The two people seen in the video are wanted for simple burglary.
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