Caught on camera: 2 thieves hit ATMs across Denver

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DENVER (KDVR) — Thieves were caught on camera striking Denver businesses this week and targeting ATMs. While they have only been able to take a couple hundred dollars with each hit, business owners said the damage they leave behind is up to a thousand times more in value.

Melissa Mitchell, who owns the 1947-built dive bar The Squeeze, said she woke up Wednesday morning to a Ring notification and noticed the back door to her business was wide open.

“I thought, oh my gosh, did it just pop open in the wind? What happened?” she said.

But then she heard breaking glass and knew it was something more serious.

“Woke up my kids like, come on, we got to go. Someone had just emailed me from next door and said, ‘We called the police. Someone broke into The Squeeze. There’s a lot of structural damage.'”

When she got there, she saw just how extensive the damage was. One of their walls was completely gone, and a look at the Ring video showed how that could have happened.

“Someone was like, ‘Well, why didn’t the sensors go off on the doors?’ Well, when you come through a wall, you can’t do much about it,” Mitchell said.

According to the Ring video, two thieves attached their truck to a part of the wall and sped off, destroying that side of the building so they could access the safe and break into it with heavy tools. They also went through the cash registers and lock boxes, but those were mostly empty. Still, they managed to make away with about $300.

“For the amount of money they got versus the amount of damage they did? Crazy. Like, $300 out of the ATM, $30,000 worth of damage,” Mitchell said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help with the cost of repairs. But Mitchell said while the structural damage is staggering enough, the bricks broken while they blew out the wall all contained names and signatures of past patrons.

“In fact, one of the ones that’s on the top of the pile says, ‘Rest in Peace Don Johnson, PBR lover,'” Mitchell said.

Don Johnson was not just a patron but one with a legacy at The Squeeze.

“Don Johnson had a prosthetic leg, and he actually had driven through the front of the bar at one point. Got his leg stuck. So the only brick that’s not original in this whole building until now was where he drove through the front of the bar,” Mitchell said.

Same thieves? Another Denver business ATM hit

Across Denver and roughly an hour earlier, one of John Zayac’s car washes was hit, and once again, the ATM was the target.

“Self-service car washes are small businesses and this individual has attacked two of our car washes three times. Each time he causes $7,000 to $8,000 in damage and he gets $125, $135,” Zayac said.

He said he learned about the break-in at The Squeeze and reached out to Mitchell. When they compared notes, they realized the two men who hit the car wash and The Squeeze were likely the same.

“It’s the same guy, the same clothing, the same truck,” Zayac said.

Plus, their methods of breaking into the businesses were also the same. In both instances, they appear to tie a chain or a cord around something and drive off, blowing out a wall or door so they can get inside.

Both businesses have been hit with heavy bills for repairs. Their owners are just hoping these two can be caught.

“It’d be great if we could catch those two fellas that are causing a ruckus,” Mitchell said. “Anybody that has an ATM or a cash box in their business, like car washes, anything like that, should probably be on the lookout.”

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Rachel Saurer

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