By Jolene Farley
Last week's theft of an ATM machine from a Luverne bank and recent bank robberies in Sioux Falls, SD., create the need to reevaluate security at area ATM machines.
In the Luverne robbery at First National Bank on Thursday, July 18, a burglar used spray paint to blacken the camera and managed to loosen bolts and take the ATM machine from the lobby. The theft wasn't reported until the next morning.
Bank vice-president, Tim Plimpton is optimistic robbers wouldn't be successful if they tried to take an ATM machine operated by the Exchange State Bank in Hills.
The bank owns two local ATMs, one in the lobby of the Hills bank and one in the Phillips 66 station in Luverne.
"If they tried taking the one in Hills, they'd have to take about half of the building," he said. "I actually have it chained to the metal rafters in the basement."
The other ATM, inside the Phillips 66 gas station, has people around it most of the time who would witness a robbery if it took place. Burglars would have to break into the building to rob the machine after closing.
Two cameras are focused on the ATM machine in Hills at all times, one looking right at the ATM and one in the bank itself.
The machines also have an alarm system that is triggered if anyone cuts wires to the machine.
"When they are messed with or the wire is cut, an alarm will go off," he said.
Although ATMs can hold in the neighborhood of $100,000 in $20 bills, Plimpton always keeps a limited amount of cash in his ATM machines.
This leads him to think stealing an ATM machine is a losing proposition.
"It seems like an awful lot of work to get very little," he said. "Towards the end of the month, they can get down under $1,000."
Banks usually purchase bonds through holding companies to cover their ATM machines, according to Plimpton. The bond reimburses the bank for the cost of the machine and any stolen cash in the event of a robbery.
Meanwhile in Luverne, authorities continue to investigate the First National Bank theft. The ATM was found, minus its cash in the Maplewood Cemetery and is being processed for fingerprints or any other evidence that may be helpful in solving the case.