If you recognize the man or truck in these photos, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. The man broke into the Pinantan General Store on the morning of Sunday, July 5, then tied the store’s ATM to his truck and ripped it through the doors, damaging the front window and inside of the building. The Pinantan store reopened this past spring after being destroyed by fire in April of 2014.
They say bad luck comes in threes.
Cory George is really hoping this is No. 3.
After watching his Pinantan General Store burn down in April of 2014, and after seeing the petition process for a proposed fire service fail last week, George is now dealing with the aftermath of a brazen ATM theft over the weekend.
“I’m disgusted,” George told KTW.
“I don’t know where I’m at with it — it is what it is. It’s in the hands of the RCMP.”
The rebuilt Pinantan General Store was the scene of a burglary in which the thief broke in through a window, tied the store’s ATM to his truck and ripped it out through the front door.
Store security cameras captured images of the suspect and the vehicle.
The crook was wearing a ski mask, black hoodie, jeans and canvas shoes, while the truck is a white Ford F-350 King Ranch crew cab with a white canopy and no back window.
George doesn’t believe the thief hails from the Pinantan Lake area, but noted the bandit certainly knew what he was after when he burgled the store.
He managed to pull off the crime before Mounties were able to respond to the store’s security alarm.
“He knew what he was looking for and how to get it,” George said.
“Whoever did it didn’t care. They’ve got no couth whatsoever, no morals.”
George declined to comment on how much money was in the ATM at the time of the theft.
As for damage to the store, George considers himself lucky. There was some damage to flooring and millwork and the store will need fresh paint and drywall, but a few of the displays that would have been in the path of the ATM’s trail of destruction had yet to be installed.
Perhaps the worst damage was to the front doors, which George said “exploded” as the ATM was ripped through.
The most disappointing part might be some of the changes George is now having to consider in order to protect the building. Roll shutters for the doors, window bars and a welded frame for a new ATM are among the possibilities.
And, as if the damage to the new store wasn’t enough, George is expecting the cost of his insurance to again rise. He will also have to pay a hefty deductible.
Still, he plans to install a new ATM.
As for continuing to operate in the Pinantan Lake area, George’s confidence is unwavering.
“It has actually made me more fired up,” George said with a laugh.
“I think that the community is a very solid community and I think that they’re probably just as disgusted as I am about what happened here.”
Anybody who recognizes the man or the truck in the photos above is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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