Crime & Safety

WATCH: Thieves Take Advantage Of Blizzard Travel Ban, Steal Essex County ATMs

Police are looking for thieves wanted for stealing ATMs from restaurants in Essex County

A truck slammed into businesses in Essex County and stole ATMs Tuesday morning - just as vehicles weren’t allowed to use the streets because of the statewide blizzard travel ban.

Surveillance cameras show a Jeep and Ram pickup truck pull up outside the Dunkin’ Donuts on Bloomfield Avenue in Bloomfield around 4:30 a.m. The pickup then comes crashing through the store; the suspects then take the ATM and load it on the truck.

>>WATCH: News12 video of the Bloomfield robbery.

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The suspects then hit the Jersey Fried Chicken on Elizabeth Avenue in Newark, and the owner says the crooks caused nearly $30,000 worth of damage and stole $2,000 in cash, according to News12.

A third store was robbed a short time later, a Checkers on Harford Street in Newark. Bloomfield Police Director Samuel DeMaio says it’s clear these crooks were experienced, according to News12.

Find out what's happening in Verona-Cedar Grovefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

In the Bloomfield robbery, investigators believe a four-door Dodge pickup backed into a parking space adjacent to an accomplice’s vehicle, and then reversed through the store’s window, according to northjersey.com.

Both are described as a heavy male wearing a hooded sweatshirt, approximately 5-feet 9-inches, and a thin male wearing a hooded sweatshirt, approximately 6-feet 2-inches, according to police.

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