White Settlement, Texas — In the wee hours of Christmas Eve, while most of North Texas was asleep, two masked thieves used a stolen black SUV as the centerpiece in a brazen ATM theft attempt that left a 7-Eleven convenience store in ruins and police hunting for answers.
Surveillance footage released by the White Settlement Police Department captures the chaotic scene that unfolded around 3:45 a.m. on South Cherry Lane, when the suspects drove up in a late-model SUV — later identified as a stolen vehicle from Dallas — and executed a plan that looked more like a movie stunt than a calculated robbery.
The suspects, both clad in black hoodies, pants, face masks, and orange gloves, began by smashing the store’s front glass with a handheld tool. One of them then hurried inside and, with a metal cable, rigged the massive ATM to the rear of the SUV.
What followed was a dramatic test of automotive torque and inertia: the driver put the SUV into gear, and the ATM came barreling through the window and out of the store, dragging racks of merchandise and chunks of storefront debris in its wake.
A Stolen Beast Turned Getaway Vehicle
Clearly, the criminals’ choice of operational vehicle was no accident. It’s the unwitting hero (or villain) of this story. According to police, the black SUV used in the heist was stolen from a Dallas location less than an hour before the crime, adding a layer of urgency and sophistication to the suspects’ actions.
Law enforcement was able to track the vehicle using surveillance cameras and license-plate readers to a nearby block in Fort Worth — less than a mile from the crime scene — where it was abandoned.
While authorities have not officially confirmed the exact year and trim of the SUV, the late-generation GMC Yukon used for this ill-advised operation is discernable from the video — a full-size body-on-frame SUV known for its stout V8 powerplants, rugged truck-like chassis, and high towing capacity.
These characteristics make it a hot one in the stolen vehicle market, precisely because its capability belies its everyday-family-haul role. In this case, those traits inadvertently made it well-suited to act as the brute force in the attempted robbery — albeit illegally.
The Yukon — especially in its Denali or AT4 trims — can comfortably tow up to 8,000 pounds or more when properly equipped, boasting a torque figure that easily overmatches a loaded ATM’s weight, which can range from 1,500 to 2,000+ pounds when bolted down.
That power, combined with rear-wheel drive aggression, would have been enough to yank the machine from its moorings, as the video so vividly demonstrates. But raw strength alone wasn’t enough to save the suspects’ plan.
Chaos in the Wake of Destruction
As they sped away, dragging the ATM behind them, the machine eventually dislodged from the cable. It was later found abandoned on the service road of Interstate 30 between Cherry Lane and South Las Vegas Trail, just meters from where it first came loose. The SUV itself, stripped of its illicit cargo, was left behind shortly afterward by the fleeing suspects, who police believe either took off on foot or switched to another vehicle.
The result? A store with its front and merchandize almost completely destroyed, an ATM recovered but intact aside from cosmetic damage, and a stolen SUV now evidence in a federal auto theft and burglary case. No injuries were reported, but the scars on the storefront reflect the sheer force involved in the operation.
A Growing Pattern of Vehicle-Assisted ATM Thefts
This incident isn’t isolated. Law enforcement in North Texas is aware of a string of similar convenience store crimes in recent weeks; many using stolen vehicles and cable attachments to rip ATMs out of their mounts and make a quick exit. The technique (crude but undeniably effective) has shown up in stolen pickups and SUVs elsewhere, illustrating how everyday utility vehicles are being repurposed for criminal ends.
Reacting to the footage, one commenter on CBS News’ YouTube page wrote, “A kid I went to school with is still in prison for this same thing,” calling the suspects “a bunch of idiots.” Anther wrote, “Looks like their plan only got as far as “Pull the ATM out of the wall”. They didn’t bother to plan out the rest.” The video generated around 46,000 views and nearly 400 comments in less than 24 hours.
Besides the senseless damage to the store, and possibly young people imprisoned over stupidity, the episode raises questions about vehicle security, stolen-vehicle recovery tech, and why certain SUVs — especially high-capability models like the Yukon — are repeatedly chosen by thieves looking for brute strength and reliability.
Whether the suspects are ever identified, and how this pattern evolves, remains to be seen. But for now, the image of a robust SUV dragging an ATM through a storefront stands as one of the most dramatic automotive crime scenes of the year.