A gang used a JCB telehandler to rip an ATM from the wall of a Co-op store in Lakenheath during a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday (24 June), before fleeing in convoy in two vehicles and sparking a cross-border police pursuit into Norfolk.
While officers recovered the stolen cash machine from a burned-out pickup truck within an hour of the attack, the suspects managed to escape. An investigation is ongoing, with police appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage.
According to Suffolk Police, officers were called at 3.45am this morning on June 24 to reports of an incident at the Co-op in High Street.
A JCB telehandler was used to rip the cash machine out of the wall which was then loaded onto a black Nissan Navara pick-up truck. The Navara was then seen driving away from the scene in convoy with a blue Volkswagen Golf R along Station Road in the general direction of Brandon.
Officers arrived at the scene in under 10 minutes and immediately began to search the local area, with colleagues from Norfolk Police also called to assist.
At around 4.30am the Navara was located just over the border into Norfolk at Cowle’s Drove in Hockwold. The vehicle had been set on fire and was found with the cash machine.
As officers were heading towards the fire they passed a car coming towards them, which was driving away from it. This matched the description of the VW Golf seen leaving the scene and so other police units in the area were alerted and a stinger was deployed in an attempt to stop the car which was driving at speed.
Officers pursued the VW Golf - which had successfully had a tyre blown out by the stinger - but it was driven into a field off Mill Drift in Hockwold where it became stuck in mud and was abandoned.
The occupants then made off and searches for them continued – assisted by a National Police Air Service helicopter – but they were not located.
At 8.25am officers were notified by members of the public that they had found another black Nissan Navara pick-up abandoned on farmland north of RAF Lakenheath, off Wangford Road. It is currently unconfirmed whether this vehicle is linked to the crime.
A section of High Street in Lakenheath near the Co-op was closed as the damage to the building was assessed and investigative work took place.
Suffolk Police is appealing for any witnesses to this incident and asking any motorists driving in the area at the time of the incident – or near any of the locations the vehicles mentioned above were found - with a dashcam fitted in their vehicle, to review the footage for any material that may be of assistance.