MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Madera County Sheriff’s Office wants the public’s help identifying a suspect involved in two ATM thefts in the mountain area of Madera County.
Deputies say the first theft took place on July 17 around 2 a.m. at the Bass Fork Star Valero. In this instance, the suspect used an industrial concrete saw to cut through the metal security cage and front door.
Investigators say the suspect wrapped a steel cable around the ATM and attached it to a truck to rip the machine out. The business sustained extensive damage as a result of this encounter.
The truck used in the theft was later found abandoned with the ATM on Road 222 shortly after and also determined to have been stolen out of Fresno County a few days prior to the burglary, detectives report.
The second theft that took place was on Aug. 2 around 4:30 a.m. at the Valero gas station ATM in Yosemite Lakes, according to deputies. Responding units found the store’s ATM in the parking lot and extensive damage to the front doors.
Detectives report surveillance footage revealed the suspect using the same process as they did in the first burglary to get into the business. The witness who reported the scene also gave word of a gold truck circling the business.
Investigators say the truck fled the scene and crashed on Yosemite Springs Parkway west of Highway 41; it was later determined to be stolen. A witness reported seeing a “large-framed male” exit the truck and flee.
Due to the similarities in both burglaries, deputies believe the same suspect is involved both ATM thefts and is asking for the community’s help in identifying the suspect(s) involved in these cases.
Anyone with any information about either incident is asked to contact the Madera County Sheriff’s Detective Padgett at 559-474-2302.