It was 3am on Tuesday morning in the heart of Algorfa. Loud banging wakes up several residents. On the street, a vehicle ends up crashing into the main window of the Caja Rural Central branch in the town. A number of men then hook the ATM to a boom truck, rip it out of the wall and load it into the back of the vehicle.
Once the money is loaded into the trailer, they flee, but a Local Police car is not very far behind them.
This was the build up to a spectacular police chase on Tuesday morning through the streets of Algorfa and although the agents were able to recover the loot, they were unable to catch and arrest the criminals.
According to police sources, the mayor, Manuel Ros, said the thieves used the truck of a belonging to a construction materials company based in Elche. Two people were in the cab while two others were riding in an Audi A6 with a false license plate, which acted as an escort.
The agents arrived at the scene of the crime just as the criminals were preparing to flee with the ATM loaded. The chase, said the mayor, was very difficult for the agents, with moments of especial tension when the truck drivers invaded the adjacent lane and slammed on the brakes in order to intimidate the agents.
The chase, which lasted several kilometres, took the criminals and the police vehicle to the AP-7 motorway. There the thieves eventually gave in. The truck with the ATM crossed the middle of the highway and its two occupants jumped out of the cab. They immediately ran away between through adjacent orchard plots. The Audi A6 that accompanied them continued at high speed and lost their police tail.
The Police, who were delighted for at least having saved the money, are investigating who the alleged perpetrators of the theft would be. They suspect that it could be an organised gang that has already carried out similar robberies from banks in other parts of the province of Alicante.
The mayor, Manuel Ros, was very grateful to the agents and was particularly thankful that, during the chase, there were no personal injuries, despite the thugs’ repeated attempts to ram the officers off the road.
