An alert local resident and speedy police response time thwarted a truck theft and attempted ATM robbery early Tuesday morning, Kingfisher Police Chief David Catron said.

Carl Themer, 1214 S. Main St., called 911 shortly after 4 a.m. to report someone was trying to pull over the ATM at the Interbank south branch.

From his vantage point directly across the street, Themer watched the individuals make three attempts to pull the machine over utilizing a chain hooked to a white Ford pickup truck, Catron said.

The chain kept breaking and after the third unsuccessful attempt, the truck left the bank and headed north on Main Street before turning west on Fay Avenue, Themer told Officer Jeffrey Robbins, who arrived just four minutes after Themer’s 911 call, Catron said.

“It’s not clear at this time whether they just gave up after the third attempt or whether they were scared off by the sound of the approaching police siren,” he said.

The pickup truck was found abandoned, with the lights on and the engine still running, on the 1300 block of South Eighth Street, just two blocks from the bank, Catron said.

Officers later learned the truck, a Ford F250 three-quarterton super duty model, had been stolen from Jeffrey Kochenower at his residence on North Sixth Street.

“They busted the ignition and started it without a key,” Catron said.

Security video footage at the bank viewed by police Tuesday morning showed two males dressed in big, puffy coats with hoods, wearing medical-type masks over their noses and mouths.

“If you’ve been watching the news, the same kind of thing has been going on in Oklahoma City,” Catron said. “It was just a matter of time before something like that was tried here.”

According to online news reports, ATM heists have been on the rise over the summer, many involving nearly identical MOs, right down to the use of stolen Ford super duty model pickup trucks.

Kingfisher police sergeants Dustin Brodrick and Justin

Between 5 and 5:30 a.m., officers discovered six other pickup trucks of the same make that appeared to have been broken into.

“The plastic door handles were broken off to get to the locks,” Catron said. “Apparently they stole the first one they could get started.” Based on his review of the video, the thieves who hit the local ATM had committed similar crimes in the past. “They knew exactly what they were doing and didn’t waste any time,” he said. “They backed up to the ATM and hooked up the chain like they’d done it before.” Catron said a bank representative told police Tuesday morning that the bank vault repairman said the local ATM was the 12 ^th he’d repaired recently after nearly identical robbery attempts. Catron said the perpetrators likely expected their job to be easier in a smaller city like Kingfisher.

“I believe our response time scared them off,” he said. “They underestimated how quickly

Trumbley responded to Robbins’ call for assistance and the officers began canvassing the surrounding neighborhood. officers can get there in a smaller town.”

Catron also credited Themer for being observant and alerting police immediately.

“We’re lucky that the witness across the street saw it happen because it didn’t activate the alarm since they didn’t actually gain access to the ATM,” he said.