Pineville PD suspects thieves are targeting people leaving ATMs

Pineville police said thieves have been targeting Hispanic victims after they leave ATMs.

It’s a trend that police say started in early June.

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One victim said $10,000 was stolen.

“It seemed like somebody had been following me,” Joel Zabala said.

Zabala thinks someone followed him last Thursday after withdrawing cash.

“I went to the first bank,” he told Channel 9. “I (withdrew) $10,000. I made some checks, as well. Then I went to the other bank to withdrawal another.”

Zabala said he was at the teller when someone came into the bank and said that someone was breaking into an Audi, which happened to be his car.

The thieves took the 10 grand but left the checks.

A Pineville man told detectives that someone broke into his truck parked outside his home after he went to the ATM in June.

The thieved didn’t get any cash.

In another similar crime, a Charlotte woman told investigators someone stole $11,000 and a designer purse from her car when it was parked outside of a Red Lobster on July 9.

The victim said she had just taken out cash from a nearby Bank of America, the same location where Zabala was victimized two weeks later.

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“It seemed like somebody had been following me because they knew specifically where the money was,” Zabala said. “They didn’t even open the glove box or nothing else. They went straight into it.”

Zabala recommends that people send money electronically and avoid withdrawing a lot of money at once.

Police are actively investigating the thefts. They stress that people should not leave money and valuables in vehicles.

Also, police emphasized that people should be aware of their surroundings.

(Watch below: Family asks for help after police release photos of suspect accused of killing mom at ATM in University City)