Thieves try to steal ATM from Belen gas station

Thieves try to steal ATM from Belen gas station

A store owner is explaining what he says happened when some people tried to haul-off an ATM today.

BELEN, N.M. – One of the owners of Roadrunner Pit Stop gas station in Belen says someone tried robbing his store early Sunday morning.

Carlo Trujillo says it happened between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. Sunday. His brother took a video, showing how much damage there is to the store.

Trujillo told KOB 4 two people broke into the store with a sledgehammer, hooked up the ATM to a truck they stole and tried driving off. But the stolen car broke down before they could get away. As of Sunday, the truck was still there.

Trujillo says there’s extensive damage to the entire building, including structural damage. The ATM was destroyed. 

Trujillo says right now, they don’t know when the store will reopen. The gas pumps on the outside are still working.

This all comes as the gas station works to reopen its restaurant, Fat Sat’s Bar and Grill. Trujillo told us they’ve been trying to reopen it since COVID-19. The timeline is to reopen by June, they’re hoping this attempted robbery won’t set that back.

They don’t believe there was any damage to the restaurant. All the owners are working with Belen police to try and capture the two suspects. They were able to retrieve surveillance video from the store Sunday morning.

We reached out to Belen Police Department but haven’t heard back.