MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Thieves used a forklift to steal an ATM from a branch of the $345 million Consumer Credit Union here late last month.
The crooks drove the stolen forklift from a nearby construction site onto the CU's lot at 4918 Andrew Johnson Highway, ripped the ATM from its moorings, loaded it into the back of a pickup truck and escaped. The ATM, containing and undisclosed amount of money, is still missing, and the thieves are still at large.
At 5:52 AM local police responded to the panic alarm set off by the ATM's sensors as it was being moved. When authorities arrived they found $30,000 worth of damage to the credit union from the heist and $500 in damage to the forklift that was left at the scene.
The CU's surveillance cameras recorded the theft, showing a white Dodge 1500 pickup with a Florida license plate.
The latest ATM heist is at least the second this year in which thieves used a forklift to steal a CU's ATM.
That theft happened early in the morning, and by the evening the ATM was found in a rock pit less than three miles from the credit union, damaged—but no money taken.
