Two ATMs were stolen from Silver Spring convenience stores this week in a smash-and-grab style similar to others in the Washington region, county police announced Thursday.
Two suspects entered a 7-Eleven store at 12257 Tech Road at 3:10 a.m. Thursday, and forced employees to lay on the ground while a third suspect drove a pickup truck through the front of the store, police said. The suspects loaded the ATM on the truck and fled.
A nearly identical incident occurred at 3:09 a.m. Tuesday at a 7-Eleven at 15539 New Hampshire Ave., police said.
No employees were harmed in either incident, police said.
The suspects wore black hoodies and covered their faces.
The Washington Metropolitan Police Department reported a similar incident on Friday, where two suspects entered a business in the 5500 block of South Dakota Avenue NE, and forced two employees to the ground while another backed a truck into the front of the store near an ATM. Four suspects then ran.
On March 13, Prince George’s County Police Department patrol officers responded to a convenience store in the 7700 block of Finns Lane in Lanham, after the same scenario played out around 1:45 a.m. An ATM was loaded on a white pickup truck by three suspects, who fled the scene, police said.
Later that morning, officers found three stolen ATMs on fire in a vacant lot in Landover. One was confirmed to be the stolen ATM from the Lanham store. A white pickup truck was also found in the lot.
A Prince George’s police spokesperson said the department is investigating whether all of the cases are connected.
Charlie Wright can be reached at charlie.wright@moco360.media
