By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
An ATM was damaged at a local credit union after someone attempted to pull it apart early this morning.
Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning that officers were dispatched to the Great Plains Federal Credit Union branch at 605 S. Ohio, at 4:13 a.m. Thursday for an ATM alarm.
When they arrived they found visible damage to the ATM, Forrester said. Hooks and a yellow tow strap were still attached to the ATM. Additionally, tire tracks heading in a northeasterly direction were visible in the parking lot.
Forrester said it appeared that the ATM was only damaged and that no money was taken.
Officers checking the area located a 2000 Ford F250 parked but still running a few blocks away in the 500 block of S. Delaware Avenue, he said. Part of a yellow tow strap was still attached to the pickup and the ignition had been punched out.
The registered owner of the pickup, James Blackwell, of Blueline Remodeling, 1014 E. Prescott Road, told police the pickup, valued at $4,000, had been parked at the business at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Damage to the pickup was estimated at $1,000.
Forrester said similar attempts to open ATMs have been happening throughout the central United States. Stolen pickups are used to pull the fronts off of ATMs so that the thieves can get to the cash boxes inside, he said.