HAIL, 7 May 2003 — A group of thieves made off with the automatic teller machine of a local bank by using a bulldozer here on Monday but did not get any money, police sources told Arab News. The ATM was located on the city’s airport road.
“The thieves first stole a bulldozer belonging to the municipality and then used it to drag the ATM’s money box to a place close to the television building,” the sources said. When they opened the box, they did not find any money inside.
A bank official told Arab News that the machine was empty because it had been established only two months ago and no money had yet been deposited in it.
The theft took place in the early hours of the day. When the thieves spotted a police patrol, they fled, abandoning both the ATM and the bulldozer. Police are searching for the thieves in a nearby village.
ATMs have several times become the target of thieves in recent months, notably in Dammam, Sihat and Abha.
Brig. Abdul Aziz Al-Beadi, director of police in the Eastern Province, said security officers were still questioning a gang of thieves for allegedly stealing two ATM facilities in Dammam and Sihat.
“The culprits have admitted that they stole the automatic teller machine in Sihat last year,” the police chief told the Saudi Press Agency.
