Using a forklift, thieves steal 2 ATMs in Wallingford credit union heist

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) is looking for suspects after two ATMs were ripped out of a credit union in the Wallingford neighborhood with a forklift.

The two ATMs were stolen from a Boeing Employees Credit Union at approximately 3 a.m. on Stone Way North and 44th in Wallingford, according to SPD Detective Brian Pritchard.

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“Officers arrived, and they actually saw the forklift and three or four suspects,” Pritchard told KIRO Newsradio. “Suspects then immediately jumped in three different separate vehicles.”

The ATMs were placed into SUVs with a front loader, but as the suspects attempted their escape from the police, one of the ATMs fell out of the vehicle into the street. The suspects scattered in three separate directions, according to SPD.

“One ATM they were able to actually get away with,” Pritchard added. “The second ATM, they actually dropped and didn’t have time to take.”

Using an SPD vehicle, officers were able to drag the left-behind ATM back to the Wallingford credit union.

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Investigators are currently looking for three to four suspects. So far, no arrests have been made. It’s not known how much money was stolen from the credit union, as of this reporting.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.