DES MOINES, Iowa – A man has been arrested here for first stealing several vehicles and second, attempting to use them to then steal a credit union’s ATM.
According to police, Catlin Caldwell, 25, attempted to use a pickup truck, a flatbed trailer and a skid loader to pull from its foundation an ATM owned by Greater Iowa Credit Union on E. 30th Street around 4 a.m.
The credit union’s alarm and residents in the area notified police of the attempted crime, WHO-TV reported. Police alleged the chain Caldwell was using broke while he was pulling on the machine. He then abandoned the vehicle and tried to run away, but officers quickly caught up to him, WHO-TV reported.
In the course of the investigation, police later learned the truck, trailer and skid loader were all stolen.
“I’d like to say it’s great police work, but this guy really made it easy for us. It seems like he didn’t have a plan beyond going to steal a truck, trailer and skid loader and then trying to steal an ATM, and that’s when his plan stopped,” Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek told WHO-TV. “Obviously, he wasn’t able to get it done and we were able to catch him.”
Caldwell faces four felony charges of theft in the first degree, police said.