BILLINGS — The Wells Fargo located near Costco on Billings West End is usually busy but for the foreseeable future, the bank is going to be a little shorthanded.
Late Monday night, Billings police responded to an ATM alarm and discovered the outside ATM near Costco in rough shape.
Customers said Wednesday they were surprised at how bad it was.
"The destruction is horrible. It appears they destroyed the casing around the machine but we're not able to get the ATM out," said Maureen Jurovich, who banks at Wells Fargo, on Wednesday.
Monday evening, an excavator was stolen from a construction site and taken to Wells Fargo and tried to break into it, according to a Billings police report.
"I think it’s terrible. I think that the crime is terrible. Crime increases, and it’s in all areas. They’re stealing equipment, property, ATMs, I think it’s terrible," added Jurovich.
The damage hasn't gone unnoticed by other Wells Fargo customers.
"They must be pretty determined. I don’t know, it’s still hard to believe with how busy this area is," said customer Cora Connolly on Wednesday.
The excavator is owned by State Line Contracting, located in Bridger. MTN reached out to the company and Wells Fargo but did not receive a comment from either.
While the attempted break-in was caught on security cameras, the would-be thieves have not.
"I totally think that they thought an excavator would help them take it. I’m a little surprised they didn’t get it," Jurovich added.
While they didn't get any money, they still caused a tremendous amount of damage.
"I just think it’s a sad situation when banks are attacked," Jurovich said.
"It's a little scary how out of control it (crime) seems," Connolly added.
