A group of masked ATM burglars who are accused of perpetrating 62 thefts in Brooklyn and Queens over the last 14 months have been caught. Four suspects (a fifth one was already in custody) are accused of stealing over $200K; police say they used a signature "splash and dash" technique, splashing the crime scene with bleach, to destroy DNA evidence. And just as we predicted, the robbers admitted to cops that they were inspired in that respect by the 2010 Ben Affleck movie, The Town.
The burglars, whose crime spree allegedly began in August 2010, said that in addition to the splash and dash, they also cut power to their target locations and used miners' headlamps to see what they were doing in the dark. Except unlike the movie, in which Affleck and his Bah-ston cohorts hit big banks, the Clorox Crew mainly robbed small business owners, including delis, discount stores, candy shops, and pizzerias.
The four suspects have all already confessed to a certain amount of the burglaries: Amaurys Hernandez, 26, admitted he took part in 11 burglaries; Andy Lopez, 31, confessed to three; Roy Gonzalez, 24, said he was involved in 24 of the crimes; and Miguel Colon, 29, admitted to two.
