Thieves drive car through Detroit store's brick wall, bash ATM with sledgehammer

DETROIT (WJBK) - Thieves drove through a brick wall and took a sledgehammer to an ATM early Wednesday morning at a neighborhood store in Detroit.

"That's what they did," said store manager Mike Alsher. "They tried to snatch the whole thing, but they couldn't so they broke it down with a sledgehammer."

The break-in happened around 3 a.m. Wednesday and the owner said he wasn't notified for a few hours.

"Right now, we're taking a look at the investigation with the alarm company. It looks like the thieves had a few hours inside the store," said store owner Raymond Elias. "We were not notified by the alarm company until 6:30 a.m. this morning, so we're looking into seeing how that happened."

Wednesday was spent cleaning up, and fortunately the store was closed when these criminals drove through a brick wall, only steal a few dollars.

"We all have a smile on our face at the end of the day that no one was hurt in all of this, and that's one of the best things we can take out of this," Elias said.

The store has been targeted before, but nothing to this extreme.

"They don't bother nobody," said Edwin Thomas. "They take care of the neighborhood. I don't understand why they did that. Now, they're just causing more problems for the neighborhood. It don't make sense."

The owner isn't saying much, but there is surveillance video showing the crime.

"Right now, we are working with the Detroit Police Department. They are currently looking at the surveillance video," Elias said. "We don't want to release any information right now. They're doing what they do, and we'll continue to cooperate with the department and whatever questions they may have for us."

Police have not released that footage, but one officer at the scene says, investigators know who they are looking for.