Sterling Police think they’ve found two men who stole ATMs from businesses in their city in May 2012.
One ATM was stolen from the Northland Mall and another from the Eggs in Paradise restaurant before dawn May 12, 2012. One of the machines was found in a nearby retention pond, minus the safe inside. The utility vehicle was found by a hiker on June 7.
A Whiteside County grand jury indicted two local men February 26, 2013 in connection with those crimes.
Robert Zais, 25, of Tampico, Illinois and Robert Lambert, 32, of Kewanee were each indicted on two counts of burglary, one count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, two counts of theft and one count of criminal damage to property.
Both men were held in the Henry County (Illinois) Jail. Bond was set at $100,000 for each of them.
Police did not indicate whether Zais and Lambert were suspects in other ATM thefts that also occurred in our area. An ATM was taken June 15 from the Great River Mart in Cordova, and thieves used a vehicle to smash the front of a Shell Express in Annawan when they took an ATM there June 26.
