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Crime & Safety

Three Arrested for ATM Crime Spree

After a crime spree crossing three counties, the "ATM bandits" were arrested while attempting to rob an ATM in Basking Ridge.

Three men were charged earlier this week for a string of burglaries over the last several months that earned them the name the "ATM Bandits."

Hector Lasanta, 28, Olvil Lasanta, 30, and Alan Correa, 36, are charged with multiple burglaries and thefts, across three counties, including one robbery while threatening a security guard with a gun. The trio are alleged to have entered office buildings to break into ATMs using power tools while dressed in black with black ski masks, according to Robert Bianchi, Morris County Prosecutor.

They were arrested last Friday at midnight while attempting to rob an ATM on 131 Morristown Road in Basking Ridge, as reported by NJ.com. A fourth person was later arrested, and others may still be arrested in connection with the crimes, according to Bianchi. They are charged with over 100 criminal offenses including Robbery, Burglary, Theft and Conspiracy to commit those crimes.

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The "bandits" are alleged to have stolen over $97,000 in cash and over $25,000 in property, from ATMs in East Hanover, Hanover Township, Harding Township, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Parsippany and Rockaway Township, and Essex County, Bianchi said. Police have since recovered much of the property stolen using search warrants since the arrests.

The investigation was a joint initiative among members of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, the Morris County Sheriff's Office, the Morris County Park Police, and the police departments in Dover, East Hanover, Hanover Township, Harding Township, Morris Plains, Morristown, Morris Township, Mountain Lakes, Mount Olive Township, Parsippany, Randolph Township, Rockaway Township, Roxbury Township.

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"Without the coordinated effort, it is unlikely that the crime would have been solved as quickly," Bianchi said.

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