ATM Thieves Use Blowtorch to Get Money

Two persistent thieves used a blowtorch to open an ATM that they stole early Friday from a Laguna Woods bank.

The men stole the ATM from outside of a Chase Bank branch. The Orange County Sheriff's Department received the call at 4:48 a.m.

"The thieves first tried to pull the ATM from the ground using a cable, but the cable broke," said Sheriff's Spokesman Jim Amormino.

The thieves then used a flatbed truck to knock the machine over and loaded the stolen ATM into the truck, which also was stolen. The men then fled to 2311 Cherry Street in Lake Forest, where they used a blowtorch to release the contents of the ATM.

At around 9 a.m., the deputies found the smashed ATM.

Following the torch, the men went next door to a nursery and stole a white Chevy utility truck with a black stripe on the hood. Authorities are currently searching for the truck, which has the license plate number 8B26258.

The amount of money stolen will not be released due to a federal policy, according to Amormino.

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