Loading shovel used in ATM heist at Saitama convenience store

Friday 31st October, 10:51 AM JST

SAITAMA —

A loading shovel was used to steal 5 million yen from an ATM at a convenience store in Niiza City, Saitama Prefecture, early Friday, police said.

According to police, the loading shovel crashed through the windows of the store at 12:20 a.m. and rammed the ATM. Since the power supply was cut off by the attack, security cameras were unable to record the assault, police said.

Store staff and customers inside the shop told police that they were so shocked by the sudden attack they couldn’t do anything or even see how many thieves were involved. Police said the loading shovel had been reported stolen.

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Latest 15 of 20 Total Comments Show All

thepro at 12:49 PM JST - 31st October

haha and they just did it while there were customers in the store. nobody saw nothing.
Altria at 01:07 PM JST - 31st October

Saitama shovellers stun shell-shocked Sunkus staff!
kavikahi at 01:09 PM JST - 31st October

Kinda ballsy, I expect a complete follow up!
Lieutenant at 01:14 PM JST - 31st October

Police peruse post-crime premises poorly proving payday punks proliferate.

Sorry, I'm doing the best I can.
raaaar at 01:23 PM JST - 31st October

The staff/customers remind me of Randy from the recent episode of South Park....

"OH MY GOD....I AM SOOOO STARTLED!"
meanmutha at 02:55 PM JST - 31st October

Local gang bangers and unemployment is on the rise. Pretty good knock over, this one. Sadly this is the start of more.
Proffessor at 03:14 PM JST - 31st October

This is a joke! How many minutes did the whole oparation take? And they managed to get away with? Mmm....
raaaar at 04:04 PM JST - 31st October

How many minutes did the whole oparation take?

At a guess, less than 60seconds... with a loading shovel you could smash through a window and have the atm off the wall in one move - those things are ridiculously powerful!
ptolemy at 04:23 PM JST - 31st October

Thats digging your way to the jackpot. Creative, very creative.
BBLeo at 04:40 PM JST - 31st October

Hold on! What are cops doing this time? They suppose to guard ATM's. Few days back there were thousands around machines, and now are they all in hiding? ATM's should be under police protection 24hrs per day. 'ASSAULT ATM WITH A SHOVEL WHAT A GOOD IDEA.' Was security camera working, or was at 'tea' break?
raaaar at 07:15 PM JST - 31st October

'ASSAULT ATM WITH A SHOVEL

It was a loading shovel, there are several tons of difference haha
Disillusioned at 10:10 PM JST - 31st October

So, it seems the Japanese crims are catching up with the rest of the world and updating their techniques to include ram-raiding. I'd guess it must be pretty easy knowing all the cops are out checking bicycle registrations and helping old ladies withdraw money from their ATM accounts. Bit of a shame there were no cops at this ATM, isn't it? I wonder when the police force will actually update to include police work?
usaexpat at 11:51 PM JST - 31st October

Bring out the heavy equipment eh? I guess that's better than trying to muscle the ATM into a truck. In the US when they had free satnding atms at banks, crooks used to just tow them away with a car.
buffalo at 09:04 AM JST - 1st November

10 outa 10 for a solid effort! as long as nobody is messed up there should be more of this movie style smash and grab. Gives the dull boring jnews a boost.
marvenp at 08:52 AM JST - 4th November

My question is how did they get the money out of the ATM? I can understand stealing the machine but aren't those things supposed to be unbreakable?