Thieves ram truck into Columbia store, drag ATM during chase, police say
Two men rammed a pickup into a Columbia convenience store and then drove away, dragging the store’s ATM behind them, according to the Columbia Police Department.
It burglary happened early Jan. 25 at the Shiv Food Mart Shell station in the 3100 block of North Beltline Boulevard, according to an incident report. Officers responded to a burglary at the store just after 1 a.m. and were told that two men in a truck were ramming the vehicle into the building and trying to steal the ATM.
As officers arrived, they saw two men get into the truck, which had an ATM attached to it that was being dragged, police said. This prompted a chase that ended on Rosewood Drive near Deerwood Street, when the suspects got out of the truck and ran.
The truck had a broken steering column and had been hot-wired, according to police. It had been reported stolen to the sheriff’s department.
There was no description of the suspects. Police said in the report that there was dash-cam and body cam footage of the pursuit.
Police released video surveillance from the convenience store Thursday night, and it shows the suspects smashing into the building with a light-colored truck. The collision created significant damage to the store.
Video shows the suspects sliding through the debris in the store in a hurried attempt to remove the ATM.
Similar incidents are currently being investigated by police, which said they are “working to determine if the cases are connected.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2019 at 7:03 PM.
