Take no money and run

By Hozaifa Cassubhai, Court TV

CHICAGO (Court TV) — Three bungling crooks spent hours prying a cash machine loose and then stealing it, only to realize later that it had been out of order for two years.

The thieves' efforts to steal the ATM machine from L and G restaurant early Aug. 22 were met with little resistance from the restaurant owner and employees who had long been trying to get rid of the machine.

"The thing's been dead for a [long] time," waitress Tammy Katsenis said, reportedly adding that the company that serviced it had gone out of business. The machine was unplugged and completely out of cash.

The crooks follies continued outside the restaurant when they tried to fit the cash machine into the back of a 1993 Cadillac DeVille. With the door wide open, the behavior was a bit inconspicuous to say the least. Police passing by in a patrol car saw the three men wrestling with the machine and chased them on foot. Cory Pickett, 32, was arrested, but the two other suspects escaped.

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