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ATM heist sends thousands of dollars flying
A heist in Montgomery County sent thousands of dollars flying and two suspects behind bars. The search continues for the third suspect.
HOUSTON - A wild police chase ends with thousands of dollars literally blowing down the road. It started in New Caney with thieves breaking into an ATM.
The Wells Fargo money machine was left battered and standing open, with customers pulling up to the drive-up ATM before realizing it wasn't working. The company soon covered it with black plastic.
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The thieves busted into the ATM early Wednesday morning around 3 a.m. off of Community Drive and Highway 59, stealing money that ended up strewn all over the highway and in the woods in Cleveland, Texas.
It's certainly something you don't see every day. Officers spent hours picking up thousands of dollars that littered the ground.
"I saw officers on this side of the fence. They were picking up some things with a bag, but I really thought it was evidence. When I pulled in this morning, and saw all the officers around here, it really surprised me. I thought it was something going on with my business. I got worried, like what's going on here. I've been here over 23 years. It's usually quiet," explains Nat Hernandez, whose business, Cleveland Truck Services, sits right in the middle of where everything went down.
The money is certainly evidence after investigators say three men broke into a drive-up ATM and helped themselves to the cash.
Detectives say the thieves ditched the pick-up truck they were in, jumped into a car where they were spotted by officers, and the chase was on, going at speeds up to 120 miles an hour in dense fog.
The accused crooks crashed on Highway 105 at Lee Turner Road in Cleveland and tried lugging the loot as they ran leaving a trail of $100 bills blowing in every direction.
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We're told a DPS helicopter found one of the suspects hiding 40 feet up in a tree.
Two of the three men were caught, including Elton Watson, who is now charged with Criminal Mischief, Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, Evading Arrest and ATM Theft. Another suspect, Wiley Anthony Smith, was also arrested on similar charges.
The third man is still on the loose.
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Houston police say there's an ongoing investigation that's part of an FBI Violent Crimes Task Force initiative and HPD investigators were actually conducting surveillance in the area that led to catching the suspects so quickly.