Surrey Police begin investigation of multiple attempt ATM thefts

We are currently investigating a series of attempt ATM thefts which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, 3 July across the county.

The incidents happened in Camberley and Ripley within the space of a couple of hours, we are currently keeping an open mind as to whether these are connected.

We are currently reviewing CCTV, after three men set fire to an ATM at Sainsbury’s Local in Heather Ridge Arcade in Camberley at around 3am of Wednesday, 3 July.

Offence detail:

• Three men arrived just before 3am in a car.
• The men walk up and down the parade of shops in the Heather Ridge Arcade for around 5 minutes.
• They then return to the car to collect items before using a substance to cause an explosion inside the cash machine.
• The suspects then fled and although no entry was made to the machine and nothing was taken, there was extensive damage caused

Suspect description

• Three men
• Wearing dark coloured hoodies, hats and face coverings

Later in the day during a routine engineer check on an ATM in Ripley, an incident of a similar nature was revealed. The review of some CCTV footage outside the Co-op in Ripley showed a group of men pull up at around 3.40am before tampering with the machine. The officers were concerned, so cordoned off the area until 5pm to make sure the public were safe.

Offence detail:

• Four males pull up outside the Co-op in Ripley in a car.
• They are seen tampering with the ATM machine
• After failing to gain entry, they left the scene with their direction of travel appearing to be towards the A3 northbound.

Suspect description:

• Four males
• Dark coloured hoodies, hats, gloves and masks

Detective Inspector, Pete Howgate from Guildford CID said:

“We are currently working with witnesses and the businesses affected in order to build a picture of what’s happened and we’re urging anyone who has any more information to get in touch.

“The help we received from the local business and community was fantastic and we’d like to reach out to members of the public who could help us. We appreciate that this happened late but if you happened to be awake and saw or heard anything suspicious, then please get in touch.

“It was lucky that nobody was hurt during these events and we want to prevent something like this happening again by bringing the suspects to justice.

“We are aware there were similar incidents in Hampshire on the same night and have been in touch with them regarding our investigations.”

Anyone with any information should contact officers by calling 101 or report online quoting reference number PR/45190069181.

Alternatively, if you wish to remain anonymous, call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.