Thieves use excavator to bash Mount Pearl bank, steal ATM

This is the third time a bank has been robbed by someone using heavy machinery in the last month. The RNC is urging contractors to secure heavy machinery.

Third case of heavy-machinery-related bank robbery in past month

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News · Posted: Jan 13, 2025 9:08 AM EST | Last Updated: January 14

A corner of a building with the wall torn down with piles of broken wood and exposed wires. A man in a dark jacket with reflectors stands in the wreckage. — Early Monday morning someone used an excavator to tear down a corner of a bank on Commonwealth Avenue in Mount Pearl. (Darrell Roberts/CBC)

For the third time in a month, thieves have used heavy machinery to rob a bank on the Avalon Peninsula.

In this latest incident, police officers responded to the aftermath of a robbery on Monday morning just after 4 a.m., when someone used an excavator to tear into the corner of a bank in Mount Pearl, destroying the side of the building and leaving behind piles of broken wood and exposed wires.

In an email to CBC News, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Const. James Cadigan said the thieves took the ATM from the bank, and left the excavator at the scene.

Crews removed the machine, which is now at a neighbouring construction site.

In a statement, the RNC also said its criminal investigation division is also involved in the ongoing investigation.

It's the second bank break-in in the area that used heavy machinery since September.

In Monday's statement, the RNC asked contractors to take better care to secure heavy machinery at construction sites.

An aerial view looking down at a building that's side has been tore off, leaving broken pieces of wood. Part of the roof is also gone. — Police are investigating after receiving a report of a break-in at a bank in Mount Pearl. (Danny Arsenault/CBC)

"Consideration should be given to installing locks on cabs, doors and control panels," said the statement.

"Immobilizers could be used to prevent unauthorized use and alarms could be used to trigger when equipment is tampered with. Keys should never be left onsite and a key management system would help prevent resale or key cutting."

Community safety

Mount Pearl Mayor Dave Aker told CBC News he was shocked by the robbery.

"It's kind of terrifying to know this is on the go in your community," Aker said Monday morning.

"It's not just the inconvenience, it really leads us to believe that our community is not as safe as it could be."

Aker says there has been a string of these types of robberies as of late in the province.

"This keeps continuing and I think we've got to have a conversation with all the authorities — whether it's provincial, for example, the RNC, Department of Justice, with the city — we have to have a conversation to see if we can stop this," he said.

Man in winter coat zipped up to chin, wearing glasses. Behind him is wreckage. — Mayor Dave Aker says crimes like the one at the RBC make people feel like their community isn’t safe. (Danny Arsenault/CBC)

Older heavy machinery models are easy to break into because of a universal manufacturer's key, Aker said, adding that newer models are more secure and come with a unique PIN that has to be entered to get inside.

Aker says the city has a role to play in regulating construction sites.

"They have to be secure in some way so we can prevent this from happening," he said.

He's also worried that if nothing is done to prevent the use of heavy machinery in robberies, it will escalate and only get more dangerous.

An aerial view of a building that has the side tore off next to a construction site with large piece of equipment. — In the wake of another break-in at a bank that involved heavy machinery, the RNC is urging contractors to secure equipment at construction sites. (Danny Arsenault/CBC)

The robbery comes a week after thieves used two stolen excavators to break into a bank in Carbonear.

In a news release about that robbery, the RCMP said the bandits stole two excavators from a nearby commercial property, used them to break through one of the building's walls and grab the drive-thru ATM, which they loaded into a stolen pick-up truck.

It also mirrors a similar incident in Holyrood in December, when someone used a stolen backhoe to demolish the front of the RBC there. A 33-year-old man from Conception Bay South is facing charges in connection to that robbery.

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