Thieves use stolen SUV to smash and grab ATM from Comedy at the Carlson

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Thieves used a stolen SUV to smash into local businesses, including Comedy at the Carlson where they stole an ATM.

Then cameras caught them in a secluded lot using the SUV to crash into the ATM machine hoping to break it apart to get the money.

Just before four o’clock this morning, the stolen SUV circled into an open lot near Village Gate. Inside the SUV was the ATM thieves had just stolen by crashing through the front doors of Comedy at the Carlson.
Over the next few minutes, the people in the SUV backed the SUV into the ATM trying to bust it open.

“So this is where they came in the back in the footage that you saw,” Gene Smith said. “This is where they came in the back and smashed their car or whatever car they stole into an ATM. You can actually see — what’s left of an ATM machine.”

Smith owns the business in the old warehouse that backs up to the lot where the thieves attempted to smash the ATM.

He said police told him the SUV was stolen and that they recovered it. He’s not sure if they bad guys actually got away with the ATM money.

Smith says it’s the third time thieves have burglarized a local business and come to this lot to get the cash.

“I think if we could help each other out and let each other know what’s happening and maybe work together to help communicate with the police who are overwhelmed,” he said. “That would be super helpful. I really just want it to stop.”

The ATM came from the lobby of Comedy at the Carlson.

“They left their cell phone. It was sitting right there,” said Mark Ippolito, director of operations at Comedy at the Carlson. “That’s the first thing the police officer said – is this your cell phone? I said nope. They said oh, must be theirs.”

Rochester Police took the cell phone. There is change on the walkway into the comedy place and in the lot behind Gene Smith’s building.

They believe that came from the Record Archive where the same SUV crashed through the front doors this morning.

“You can’t really be mad about this to the point where I’m letting it affect my emotions,” he said. “Obviously I’m very very disappointed. Extremely disappointed.”

Ippolito said no one has supplies to replace those commercial doors. It might take weeks to replace them and thousands of dollars.