Stolen pickup truck carrying an ATM engulfed in flames
GUELPH — Police are investigating after a stolen truck from Waterloo Region with an ATM in the back went up in flames early Sunday morning..
At 2:30 a.m., Guelph officers and firefighters responded to a call about a vehicle on fire in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 1077 Gordon St.
Police are describing the incident as suspicious.
When officers arrived, the front end of a white GMC Sierra pickup truck was engulfed in flames.
After firefighters extinguished the flames, police discovered the vehicle had been reported stolen from the Waterloo Region. There was an ATM attached to a chain in the back of the truck.
Guelph police Insp. Cate Welsh said an ATM was reported stolen from a business on Harvard Road, not far from where the truck was found.
Over the last few years there has been a rash of ATM thefts in Guelph and Waterloo Region.
Chains are connected to ATMs and trucks are used to haul them out of businesses — sometimes through walls or windows. Then they are loaded into the vehicles and the culprits make their getaway.
As people turn away from cash and rely on debit and credit cards, there is less money in cash registers at businesses, Welsh said. Thieves know that robbing local businesses at the till won’t bring in a lot of money, she said.
“Your only guarantee of a large amount of cash is from the ATM,” she said.
But police haven’t seen this type of crime since an arrest was made last year in connection to the string of ATM thefts.
Welsh said at this point, officers are treating this as a “standalone” incident.
No injuries were reported in this incident and the investigation is ongoing.
Police are asking anyone with information about this fire or this truck to contact Const. J. Nadalin at 519-824-1212, ext. 7523. Anonymous tips can also be left with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.