Thieves allegedly used a “Jaws of Life” tool to break into ATMs at Maryland 7-Eleven stores (Prince George’s County Police Department).
The “Jaws of Life” is a tool typically used to pry open crushed metal to save people perilously trapped in vehicles after a crash — but a trio of thieves used the lifesaving device to break into ATMs at numerous Maryland 7-Eleven stores, police allege.
The Prince George’s County Police Department said in a press release that its officers arrested three men responsible for several robberies that began in January. According to cops, the masked thieves would enter the store after midnight and order employees — and any customers who happened to be inside at the time — to get on the ground at gunpoint. Then they would take the hydraulic tool to get inside the ATM before fleeing with cash.
In all, authorities say they stole some $200,000.
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“This ‘Jaws of Life’ that they were using … to hatch an idea to use a tool for lifesaving, to come out and commit a crime and terrorize workers and business people and normal citizens who are shopping at those places, that right there, it’s always something new around the corner, to say ‘I’ll use such a great piece of equipment that has saved thousands of lives over the years, and I’ll use it for ill gain’,” Prince George’s Police Chief Malik Aziz said at a press conference, according to The Washington Post. “We learn to watch out for those things.”
The suspects are 34-year-old Maurice Roots, 33-year-old Jeff Crews and 39-year-old David Jerome Walker. All three live in Washington, D.C. Crews and Walker are linked to the following robberies.
- Jan. 29:
7-Eleven in the 1400 block of Cherry Hill Road in Beltsville
7-Eleven in the hundred block of Watkins Park Drive in Upper Marlboro - Feb. 1:
7-Eleven in the 7900 block of Good Luck Road in Lanham - Feb. 6:
7-Eleven in the 6100 block of Oxon Hill Road in Oxon Hill - Feb. 19:
7-Eleven in the 11300 block of Baltimore Avenue in Beltsville
Roots participated with Crews and Walker in a robbery on Feb. 22 at a 7-Eleven in the 9400 block of Lanham Severn Road in Lanham, according to cops. In that theft, the trio allegedly made out like bandits, running off with more than $32,000, according to court documents obtained by The Washington Post. They allegedly forced the employee down to the ground and turned off the store’s surveillance system before they went to work on the ATM.
Additional charges against all three are pending, as cops believe they participated in more robberies.
“We have a belief that these may grow and that they did cross state lines and that there are going to be more [charges] added to this right here,” Aziz said, according to local NBC affiliate WRC. “To me, it’s organized crime.”
WRC, citing court documents, reported the break in the case came when a surveillance image captured a Lexus GS 350 fleeing the scene. Cops reportedly tracked down that Lexus and put a GPS tracking device on it. Investigators then began surveilling the suspects and built out their case from there.
Walker currently faces the most charges at 45 with Crews following close behind at 43. Roots stands accused of seven charges. A search of the suspects’ homes resulted in the recovery of cash and numerous firearms, cops said.
Crews and Walker are in custody in Washington, D.C., pending extradition to Prince George’s County. Roots is in the custody of the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections.
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