Heavy equipment used to bash into a Newfoundland bank for second time in a month

Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Friday, July 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Police in eastern Newfoundland say that for the second time in less than a month thieves have used heavy equipment to smash into a bank and steal an ATM.

RCMP say the suspects stole a pickup truck and two excavators, which they used to bash their way into a Scotiabank in Carbonear, N.L., early Thursday morning.

The Mounties say the suspects loaded the ATM into the pickup and drove away, leaving behind the two excavators.

Cpl. Jolene Garland says they were swift and precise, and it appears they knew what they were doing.

Pictures on social media show two abandoned excavators beside the bank’s drive-thru window, which has been completely torn away.

On Dec. 16, police arrested four people after a stolen backhoe was used to tear the front off the RBC branch in Holyrood, N.L., which is about 40 kilometres south of Carbonear.

One person was charged and the others were released, though Garland says the investigation is ongoing.

She says backhoes and excavators are often started with a universal key, and police believe the suspects in the latest case used one to start the machines.

Garland says whoever has the missing ATM would likely need more heavy equipment to get into it, and police are asking the public to keep an eye out for any strange activity involving such machinery.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2025.