DATE: November 20, 2023
SUBJECT: Sheriff’s Office Makes Arrest in Westside ATM Break-in
RELEASE NUMBER: 2023-NR-1120
CONTACT: Sheriff Noah Robinson
AUTHORITY: Sheriff Noah Robinson
A suspect in the August 24, 2023 ATM break-in at Heritage Federal Credit Union has been arrested.
At 4:54 AM on August 24, 2023, the Sheriff’s Office responded to Heritage Federal Credit Union at 5343 Pearl Drive for a hold-up alarm. Upon arrival, deputies found an abandoned Ford pick-up truck that had been used to pull the credit union’s ATM off the pedestal. The ATM had been broken into and the money removed. The truck was later found to have been stolen from Henderson, KY.
The suspects had fled the scene prior to the arrival of the Sheriff’s Office. The Evansville Police Department used a K-9 to track the suspects to the adjacent Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot, but the suspects had fled in a separate vehicle. ATM camera footage showed three suspects wearing gloves and hoodies with their faces covered. Area businesses were canvassed and additional camera footage obtained. A white SUV, possibly a Tahoe, was observed on video to have been moving in tandem with the stolen truck.
With the assistance of the Evansville Police Department and the Flock Safety license plate reader system, the stolen truck was found on camera at two different locations in Evansville earlier in the morning. In each instance, the stolen truck was accompanied by a white Tahoe with no visible license plate. The Tahoe had certain distinguishing characteristics that allowed for a more advanced search using the Flock system. The Tahoe was located on a different Flock camera, this time bearing a Louisiana license plate. Further searching revealed that the Tahoe had left Houston, TX early in the morning of August 23. The Tahoe traveled through St. Louis, MO and was later recorded coming into Evansville that evening. A Flock camera showed the Tahoe in Henderson, KY at 5:13 AM following the theft.
On August 25, the Tahoe was located by a Flock license plate reader camera in Lafayette, LA where it had been flagged as a vehicle of interest through National Crime Information Database. The Lafayette Police Department was able to conduct a traffic stop on the Tahoe. Several cellphones were seized from the Tahoe but nothing was located in the vehicle that tied the occupants to the Vanderburgh County ATM theft. Three occupants, two females from Georgia and one male from Lafayette were questioned and released.
The subsequent investigation led Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office detectives to travel to Decatur, GA and Milledgeville, GA as well as Lafayette, LA in order to conduct interviews. These interviews included persons arrested in Milledgeville, GA on October 7 who were caught in the act of stealing an ATM in the same manner the ATM in Evansville was robbed. Several suspects in custody in that incident are suspects in the case here. Authorities in Georgia advised that ATM theft is considered bank robbery under Georgia law. The investigation led to sufficient probable cause to seek an arrest warrant for Dmyree Martin, age 21, of Katy, TX. In Indiana, breaking into the ATM is only a Level 6 Felony Theft charge. In this case, the charge was enhanceable to Level 5 Felony due to the amount of money taken.
Sheriff’s deputies assigned to the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force contacted USMS Task Force members in Texas. Martin was located and arrested last week and is currently being housed in the Fort Bend Jail in Richmond, TX on a $7,500 cash bond and awaiting extradition to Vanderburgh County.
Martin is believed to be a member of the Greenheart Gang based in Lafayette, LA. Members of this gang are known to conduct robberies of ATM machines throughout the Southern and Midwestern United States.
Sheriff Noah Robinson stated, “We did not solve this case on our own. The Evansville Police Department’s use of the Flock Safety system to identify our suspect vehicle is what broke the case. I look forward to implementing Flock in the County in the coming months.” Sheriff Robinson added, “I also want to thank the U.S. Marshals Service and local authorities in Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas for their assistance. In particular I wish to acknowledge the Lafayette GA Police Department, who located the suspect vehicle. Prosecutor Diana Moers and the staff of the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office deserve praise for pursuing a high bond level to help ensure our suspect appears in a Vanderburgh County Court.”
To learn more about how to partner with the Sheriff’s Office in bringing Flock Safety to your neighborhood or business, click here.
PICTURED ABOVE: Dmyree Marquel Martin, 21, of Katy, TX. Theft as a Level 5 Felony
Presumption of Innocence Notice: The fact that a person has been arrested or charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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