Early on July 29, thieves stole an ATM from a Londis store in Teddington, London. After a failed attempt to break the machine with a hammer, the suspects used a vehicle to tear the unit from the ground.
The 12:50 am failure of the hammer
The heist began with a clumsy attempt at forced entry.. According to the report, a man wearing a beanie, black top, and jeans initially tried to smash into the ATM outside the Londis store using a hammer. when the tool proved insufficient to breach the machine's security, the criminals pivoted to a more aggressive extraction method.
CCTV footage captured a blue car reversing onto the pavement of Kingston Road at approximately 12:50 am. The suspects used white cables to tether the vehicle to the ATM, allowing the driver to simply tear the machine out of the concrete. The report notes the surreal nature of the scene, as a young woman walked past the crime on her phone, seemingly oblivious to the theft occurring beside her.
Four suspects and one abandoned vehicle
While the CCTV footage only shows two men actively participating in the extraction, the Metropolitan Police are currently hunting four suspects in connection with the raid. This discrepancy suggests the presence of lookouts or a larger coordination effort that extended beyond the immediate vicinity of the Londis store.
Investigators have already made some progress in the forensic trail. As the report says, an "abandoned vehicle" has been seized by authorities. The Metropolitan Police are now piecing togethher witness testimonies and forensic evidence to identify the remaining individuals involved in the July 29 incident.
The risk of red dye and the evolution of ram-raiding
This incident reflects a broader, brazen trend of "ram-raiding" where vehicles are used as tools of demolition rather than just getaway cars. Such thefts are becoming more common as criminals target street-level infrastructure that is preceived as vulnerable. However, the success of these heists is often illusory due to modern security measures.
The potential futility of the Teddington theft was highlighted by local observers on social media, who noted that the cash inside the machine is likely covered in red dye. Most modern ATMs are equipped with dye packs that explode upon unauthorized removal, rendering the stolen banknotes useless and easily identifiable by law enforcement, which often turns a high-effort heist into a total loss for the criminals.
Who are the two missing suspects?
A significant gap remains in the public record regarding the identity and role of the two suspects not seen on the CCTV footage. It remains unclear whether these individuals were driving a separate vehicle or providing surveillance from a distance, a detail that the Metropolitan Police have not yet clarified.
Furthermore , the report does not specify if the Londis store suffered structural damage beyond the hole left by the ATM or if any other security systems were bypassed. The investigation continues under police reference 302/29JUL, with authorities urging anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers.
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