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Explosive device used to break into second bank ATM in Manteca
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The Manteca Police Department is currently searching for information that may lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for an explosion at a Wells Fargo ATM machine near Raley’s on North Union Road over the weekend.

And it’s not the only one that has turned the machine into a burned out shell in the last week.

According to police, a criminal has taken to using a technique to explosively gain entry into an ATM machines without using high explosives like dynamite.

A number of people walked up to the scorched ATM machine on Sunday to try and withdraw money – the machine provides access to residents living on the north side of Manteca – only to find it wrapped in caution tape and badly burned with a gaping hole near where the screen typically is.

The explosion, which was unsuccessful in gaining entry into the part of the machine that holds the money, was the second in Manteca in the last week after a person used the same technique on the Bank of America satellite ATM near Mountain Mikes Pizza on Main Street on Jan. 20.

An ATM machine was also hit this past weekend in Lodi using the same method, and authorities believe that it may be the same person committing the acts across the county.

“We’re absolutely looking for any information that the public may have,” said Manteca Police Department Sergeant Greg Beall, who serves on the San Joaquin County Metro Bomb Squad. “Because we’re part of a joint effort, any information about the Manteca or the Lodi

According to Beall, the technique being used was first deployed in Europe and was seen last year in Seattle and Sacramento.

Other high profile ATM thefts in other parts of the country used high-explosives, he said, which distinguish those cases from this one.

Anybody with any information about the possible identity of the culprit, or any information that may be useful to investigators about the Jan. 20th event or the one this past weekend, are encouraged to contact Beall at 209.456.8164.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.