Up to four suspects – all wearing dark clothing and balaclavas – stole a telehandler from a nearby farm to carry out a ram raid on the village Spar and post office at Crowland near Peterborough. Lincolnshire police say they believe the telehandler was stolen from a nearby farm in the early hours of today before it was driven to the store, on North Street, with a white flatbed van.
Spar, Crowland, Lincolnshire this morning! #Ramraid#Spar#Crowland#Postbox pic.twitter.com/xqPyCMKvuu
— Nigel Pepper (@NigelPepper1) December 27, 2023
“Offenders are then thought to have used the telehandler to ram the store and then lift the ATM onto the flat bed van before leaving the scene, in the Trinity Bridge direction,” said a police spokesperson.
Whittlesey ram raid – what happened to CCTV and why did police not catch them in the act?
“It is believed that three or four suspects, all wearing dark clothing and balaclavas, were involved in the incident. Two are thought to have left the scene on foot and were possibly collected in another vehicle or had one parked nearby.
“We received a call reporting the incident at 3.38am.”
Police have since recovered the telehandler, but the van and cash machine remain outstanding, and no arrests have yet been made.
Stolen vehicles used in ‘devastating’ ram raid on South Cambridgeshire village store
If you saw a telehandler, unusually laden flatbed van or any vehicle parked or driving in a manner that caught your attention in the town during the early hours of this morning, spotted any suspicious activity or have any dashcam, doorbell, CCTV, or mobile phone footage of the incident itself, please contact Lincolnshire police:
- Call DC Emma Dodsworth on 07818 539016, quoting Incident 40 of 27 December.
- Email emma.dodsworth@lincs.police.uk also quoting Incident 40 of 27 December.
- Contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
“We are appealing for witnesses or anyone who has mobile phone or dashcam footage after an ATM was taken from the store” said the spokesperson.