Crooks steal southeast Houston bank's drive-thru ATM

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Thieves somehow managed to steal an ATM from a southeast Houston bank's drive through overnight. The machine was recovered on a side street about five minutes away.

The theft happened at the Texan Bank in the 12900 block of the Gulf Freeway.

"I thought it was a brazen act. The ATM is about 1200 pounds," said a bank employee who did not want to be identified.

The incident was captured on at least two surveillance cameras. Police say (and the video shows) a single suspect using a red, four-door, Ford pickup truck to rip the ATM off of its base at the bank drive through.

Police say the suspect then dragged the heavy cash machine to the 12600 block of Conklin Street, where it was recovered about an hour later by HPD.

By 9am a professional work crew had been called-in by bank management to forcibly open the damaged cash machine. Using heavy tools and a welding torch, the crew managed to open the ATM roughly two hours later.

"As a business, it's going to set us back a couple months to get a new machine, have it installed, and repair all the damage that was done to the actual island itself," said a bank employee.

No cash was stolen or lost during the burglary. The CEO of Texan Bank is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case.