(Watson, MS) Marshall County deputies are searching for two men wanted for destroying an ATM machine.
One of them was dressed as Santa Claus as the duo ripped the machine apart trying to get some cash.
Deputies say that the burglars climbed through the AC unit to steal the ATM but their little adventure did not pay off.
JT Britt, who owns a used car lot right next to the ATM, caught it all on his surveillance camera: two guys, one dressed as Santa Claus, tearing out the AC then climbing through the hole with a bag of tools.
“As soon as they got into the ATM machine, they completely destroyed it,’ said Kelly McMilliam, a criminal investigator with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department.
The electrical and power lines were all cut, he ATM ripped apart, but in the hour the criminals spent inside this ATM on Highway 309, they didn’t walk away with a dime.
“There was nothing in it?” asked Reporter Sabrina Hall.
“There is but you can’t get to it,” said McMillin. “It’s three inches thick, the metal, and you can’t get into the box.”
So much effort, for nothing.
One burglar even cut himself in the process.
McMillin says while Britt’s surveillance video got erased by accident, the Marshal County Sheriff’s Department has all it needs to pin the crime on someone.
“Apparently, when they went through the air conditioning hole to get inside the machine, one of them sustained injuries and we were able to collect some blood.”
The Mississippi Crime Lab may soon match the DNA sample that his department collected.
The ATM damage doesn’t look like that big of a deal but the bank says it’s going to cost them $150,000 to replace it.
“There is more than just the machine in there that sends you out some money,” said McMillin. “It goes through a cycle, then that cycle dispenses money out of the bottom of the tray to you. It’s demolished.”
Demolished, with no pay-off to anyone, not even the crooks.
If you know who destroyed the ATM, call Marshall County Crimestoppers at 1-800-729-2169
