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Houston residents charged in Wyoming ATM Theft
FOX 26 Reporter Matthew Seedorff has more on what happened thousands of miles away by three Houston residents.
HOUSTON - Three people from Houston were arrested in Wyoming over the weekend accused of trying to steal money from an automated teller machine (ATM). The bank in Cheyenne, WY is located about 1,100 miles from Houston.
FOX 26 asked Cheyenne PD if the group from Houston had any valid reason to be in Wyoming.
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"That’s a good question," said Cheyenne Property Crime Sgt. Kevin Malatesta. "It’s something we’re looking into if they came up here specifically for this. Something we’re investigating at this time."
Around 3 a.m. Saturday morning, police in Cheyenne responded to the UniWyo Federal Credit Union, located at 5249 Yellowstone Road for an ATM alarm. When officers arrived, they noticed a damaged ATM which appeared to be missing cash boxes.
An officer followed tire tracks in the snow, out of the parking lot, to a nearby intersection. Once there, they located a Ford F-250 with a large chain attached to the vehicle. It was later determined the vehicle had been stolen.
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Around the same time, another officer nearby noticed a suspicious vehicle speeding.
After a brief pursuit, the vehicle and four occupants inside crashed on the icy road.
"Fortunately for us, there was a lot of ice on the ground," said Malatesta. "They slid out and crashed. They may not know how to drive here in Wyoming in the winter."
Officers had to deploy a taser to apprehend one of the three suspects. Authorities identified the alleged ATM thieves as 41-year-old Christopher Parish, 20-year-old Leo Smith, and 19-year-old Long Beaudoin, all from Houston.
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The individuals have since been medically cleared and transported to the Laramie County Jail for felony charges. Smith will be extradited back to Texas for a burglary warrant out of Tarrant County for probation revocation on the original charge of ATM theft.
Authorities continue to look for a 4th person from the group who managed to run away.