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Bucket truck bandits: Two suspects drag ATM using stolen truck, then flee from Lake City officers on foot

The stolen bucket truck was used to extract the ATM from its foundation. (Photo courtesy of Lake City Police Department)
The stolen bucket truck was used to extract the ATM from its foundation. (Photo courtesy of Lake City Police Department)

Lake City police officers were dispatched at 4:52 a.m. on Friday in response to an Ameris Bank alarm sounding, only to find the drive-thru ATM had been ripped from its foundation.

Drag marks could be seen on the blacktop leading from the bank.

An officer witnessed a white bucket truck traveling north away from the bank, dragging an ATM.

The officer tried to stop the highly suspicious bucket truck.

The truck stopped, but the two suspects did not, bailing out of the vehicle on foot and running into some nearby woods.

The truck was reported as stolen from Madison County, according to a Lake City Police Department press release.

Lake City police, alongside the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, created a perimeter around the area and called Baker Correctional Institution’s K-9 Unit to assist with tracking the suspects.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol were called in to comb through the wooded area using their aerial resources.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents were also brought in to assist in capturing the two suspects.

The suspects are still on the run as of Monday morning.

Richard is a reporter for WUFT News who can be reached by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.