Five suspects from Houston, Texas have been arrested for attempting to steal bank ATMs in Forsyth County over the last few days.
In a post on the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office Facebook page, deputies responded to two incidents, one this past Thursday and the other on Saturday.
In the first incident, deputies interrupted three suspects on July 23 at the Chase Bank on Buford Highway as the men were using a pick-up truck with a chain attached to the rear bumper to pull the ATM from a concrete base. Deputies discovered the truck had been stolen. The three suspects ran from the scene, according to the social media post. Two were caught by a deputy and a K9 officer; the other was apprehended during a traffic stop a short time later.
The three suspects, identified as Samuel Brown, 26, Bernard Lewis, 27, and Katryevion Smith, 19, are each charged with theft by taking, theft by receiving stolen vehicle and criminal damage to property.
Two additional suspects were arrested following a traffic stop on July 25. The deputy reported he stopped the vehicle for failure to maintain lane near the Chase Bank branch on Commerce Boulevard; when he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, he conducted a search and found a number of tools that could be used for burglary, including two heavy chains identical to those used in the Thursday ATM theft. The social media post said there were two Texas license plates inside the vehicle. Additionally, the deputy located directions to other banks in the area inside the men's wallets.
The suspects arrested in the Saturday incident were identified as Ricky Bridgewater, 31, and Lorenzo Moore, 48. Bridgewater and Moore are charged with loitering and prowling and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.
The investigation is ongoing.
