The FBI, the state police and local investigators continue to hunt the bank burglars responsible for the three Central New Jersey ATM heists since early December that are believed to be linked.
FBI Special Agent Steve Siegel, who coordinates investigations into burglaries and robberies at banks for the bureau's Newark office, said no similar crimes have occurred in the United States.
Siegel declined to detail much of what investigators know about the heists in Millstone Township in Monmouth County, North Brunswick and Piscataway. But authorities have already released some information:
Between late Jan. 5 and early Jan. 6, burglars cut a hole in the roof of a barbershop adjoining a Wachovia Bank branch in Piscataway, broke through the cinder block wall and opened two ATMs, stealing the cash. Investigators believe the burglar or burglars used torches.
On Dec. 8, burglars stole tools from Middlesex Welding in North Brunswick. Apparently the same crew used those tools to break into the Brunswick Bank & Trust Co. in the township the same day and into an ATM inside the bank.
On Dec. 5, burglars broke through the wall of a PNC Bank in Millstone Township and used a torch to open the back of an ATM inside the branch.
In all three cases, the bank's phone lines were cut, disabling the alarm systems. Tools used in the break-ins were stolen from local construction businesses in more than one case.
