Three people tried unsuccessfully to rob an ATM at a Walgreens on the corner of Perkins Road and Siegen Lane early Monday. They reached the parking lot.

An anonymous caller contacted authorities around 1 a.m. from a nearby Jack in the Box parking lot, saying she saw three people in a truck attempting to rob an ATM inside the other’s pharmacy across the street, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Casey Rayborn Hicks said. .

When MPs arrived they found the building’s glass doors had been smashed and the ATM was sitting in the middle of the parking lot with two large red straps attached.

The three suspects had fled the scene about two minutes before authorities arrived, according to surveillance footage obtained by the sheriff’s office. No money was stolen from the ATM, Hicks said.

An industry spokesperson said ATMs are designed to prevent destruction or taint the bills inside to make them worthless. The machines are also quite heavy and it appeared on the video that the three would-be thieves could not lift the one that was posted just inside the glass doors of the Walgreens.

The failed robbery attempt at the Walgreens lasted about five minutes, the video shows. Three suspects arrive in a dark colored truck at around 12:46 a.m. One of the suspects smashes the front door with a blunt object, while a second person climbs through and wraps a strap around the machine, the video shows.

The third person then exits the store’s ATM with the truck. Pictures show the ATM suddenly disappearing through the broken window as the truck drags it into the parking lot.

The three suspects tried but failed to hoist the ATM in the back of the truck before giving up their efforts, the footage shows. As the truck backs up, it knocks over the ATM machine before driving away.

A dark old van with a gray sign at the bottom can be seen pulling away from the scene at 12:50 am, leaving the ATM behind it.

The truck left on Perkins Road and had not been located on Monday. Authorities did not give further details on the suspects.

There have been no other attempted break-ins or break-ins at the Perkins Road Walgreens this year, Hicks said.

It is difficult to determine the true prevalence of ATM theft in the United States, according to David Tente, executive director of the ATM Industry Association in the United States, Canada and the Americas.

Until the media covers the thefts reported by law enforcement, these numbers are often hard to come by.

The organization recently launched a global ATM crime database for ATM employers and law enforcement to report incidents. The database has been active for a few months and already 5,000 incidents have been reported worldwide.

“If you have the right tools, it’s not a very difficult task to get into the safe, but you also need to know what you’re doing and try to get close to it,” Tente said.

Nevertheless, there are many security measures in place to prevent this from happening.

Safes are typically “built to withstand attack and the physical strain of prying, grinding and drilling,” he said, with sophisticated electronic locks. ATMs can have GPS devices connected with an alarm triggered if the machine is moved, so authorities can locate it quickly.

In some ATMs, there is even a device that stains the banknotes with ink if the machine is moved or tilted, rendering the banknotes useless.

ATMs can vary in weight, depending on the level of the safe inside, but Tente said it’s safe to assume that “they’re not lightweight – it’s not something a an individual could usually stand up and carry, even if they were strong enough “.

Often times they are bolted to the floor or attached to a wall to prevent them from being moved in the first place.

“It’s the kind of thing we usually see popping up – there will likely be more attempts,” Tente said. “Maybe the same crew will come out soon enough and try to start over.”

Anyone with information is asked to call EBRSO at 225-389-5000.