After consecutive break-ins, Spanky’s Café in Ben Lomond is now missing an ATM.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office confirmed deputies responded to a report of a burglary at an establishment along the 9500 block of Highway 9 on May 12.
“An ATM was stolen from the business,” Ashley Keehn, the agency’s spokesperson, said Tuesday afternoon. “Deputies canvassed the area for surveillance footage, but none has been found, thus far.”
Evidence collected by investigators is being processed by the Sheriff’s Office’s Forensic Services Division.
Spanky’s, which sports a teal and pink exterior, is a no-frills restaurant that serves breakfasts, burgers and sandwiches for about $10-15 before tax.
“The same establishment was broken into the night prior, and nothing was reported stolen at the time,” Keehn said. “No arrests have been made yet, but this is an ongoing and active investigation.”
In an interview Wednesday morning, a Spanky’s waitress said she thinks whoever carried out the crime may have had inside knowledge.
She said someone broke a window to get in Thursday night, just hours after the ATM had been filled with cash, and left $120 behind. She thinks it may have been to pay for replacing the pane of glass.
The waitress, who asked not to be identified, said it was likely multiple people who made off with the automatic banking machine, which had about $5,600 inside.
“For sure to get it out of here you needed more than one person,” she said, adding the restaurant is now investing in security cameras.
Interestingly, other items of value, such as a tip jar or restaurant equipment, were left alone, she added.
