An ATM containing about $7,000 in cash was stolen early Tuesday morning from the Hi-Hat Pancake House in Farmingdale, according to a server at the restaurant.
A call came in to the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office at 4:51 a.m. Tuesday reporting that the restaurant, at 380 Maine Ave., had been burglarized, according to emergency dispatch reports.
Kennebec County Sheriff Ken Mason said the suspect or suspects damaged the diner’s door to get inside.
“Once inside the suspect(s) removed a privately owned ATM machine that was bolted to the floor,” Mason said via email Tuesday. “The Sheriff’s Office Detective Division is working on witness statements and gathering other valuable evidence. The investigation is ongoing.”
Samantha Preshong, who said she’s worked at the restaurant for several years, said the door was propped open by a cinder block when her brother, a cook, arrived to open the restaurant Tuesday morning. The restaurant’s plow truck driver washad been at the location clearing the parking lot around 3 a.m. and said he had not seen anything out of the ordinary.
Preshong said the ATM had $7,000 in cash and will be replaced by the owner, who has insurance on the machine. She said the electrical outlet connected to the ATM was destroyed, and an electrician was at the restaurant fixing the damage.
The repair to the door will cost around $1,000, Preshong said, and she was expecting the door to be replaced sometime Tuesday afternoon.
There has never been an incident this serious at the restaurant, Preshong said. She said it has had some problems in the past, but she did not provide specifics.
The restaurant has surveillance cameras to which the owner, who lives out of state, has access. Preshong said she expects the owner will get the video to the sheriff’s office.
“It was very upsetting, because this place means a lot to me,” Preshong said. “I hope they can find whoever did this.”
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