Rodney Stevens
Brooms Head Bowling Club members and management have overcome the shock and are managing with the inconvenience after a lone bandit ripped the ATM out of the club in the early hours of the morning.
Manager Robyn Mehrten said the thief struck at 4.50am on Tuesday, August 30, when they reversed a ute up to the front of the club.
“He broke in through the verandah, got in there, roped a wire chain around the ATM twice and dragged it out the front with his car,” she said, presuming the thief was a man as they were all covered.
“He took some drinks out of the cool room, his roadies.
“He dragged it out and put it on the back of his ute and tied it down and took off with it.”
All of the bandits’ movements have been captured on CCTV, Mrs Mehrten said, which has been provided to police.
“He was covered up, everything was covered up, he had gloves on and a floppy hat, a bandanna tied around his face and a big jacket on,” she said.
“It was a sort of whitish tray back ute with no number plates on the car.”
With the alarm sounding across the quiet seaside hotspot, finally a camper at the caravan park came to investigate.
“The alarm was going off and the man across the road normally sees and hears everything, but the wind could have been blowing in a different direction, so he didn’t hear it,” Mrs Mehrten said.
“It only took him 15 minutes to get in and get out with it.
“The thief left just as the camper was walking across the bridge and he alerted the police.”
With only Brooms Head Road as a sealed escape route, Mrs Mehrten said there’s been speculation he may have taken a bush track into nearby state forest.
Mrs Mehrten said staff and members were disgusted when they heard what happened.
“How disgusting it is that anyone can do this sort of thing, to cause all this damage, they obviously don’t have a conscience,” she said.
“The inconvenience it causes to the Club and our Members as we had to shut down for a day to clean the mess and secure the premises, we are only a small Club so this time of year to even lose a day’s trade does not help, also to go into school holidays without an ATM is a real problem as it has not been replaced as yet.
“The only good thing that came out of this is that I am very grateful that my cleaning staff weren’t on premises at the time the robbery occurred.”
Police from Coffs Clarence Local Area Command are appealing for any information in relation to the incident.
“CCTV depicted a vehicle ramming the glass entry doors before one male entered the premises, tying a cable to an automatic teller machine (ATM) and dragging the machine to an unknown vehicle,” police said.
“The man fled the scene towards Sandon Road, Brooms Head.
“A crime scene was established, which was forensically examined, and detectives have commenced an investigation into the incident.
“As investigations continue, anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.”