"It's been nearly six months since Amy Wang and her husband were able to open the Scarborough convenience store where they once worked thirteen hours a day, seven days a week. They were collateral victims of a strange kind of smash and grab where the smashing was done by an excavator trying to grab the ATM in the Scotiabank branch next door. It crushed the roof of their shop, Rouge Convenience, and caused the storefront to collapse."
"When Wang rushed to the site in the middle of the night, their family's sole source of income was rubble. I think my brain just stopped there for maybe a minute, she told CBC Toronto. We built [this business] day and night for the past few years and overnight it's gone. Nothing. I was so sad. Police say the thieves failed to get away with any cash, though they did cause over $600,000 worth of damage to the plaza, according to its owner."
"This unique form of theft has been happening all over the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. Thieves on the hunt for cash break through the walls of banks using excavators that experts say anyone capable of ordering a key online can drive off the lot. What was left of Amy Wang's convenience store after an excavator was used to break into the bank branch next door in June 2025. (CBC) Similar thefts have garnered headlines across Canada."
An excavator-powered theft wave has smashed bank branches across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, with suspects attempting to steal ATMs and causing massive collateral damage. A Scarborough convenience store was destroyed when an excavator trying to grab an ATM crushed its roof and collapsed the storefront, leaving a family business in rubble and over $600,000 in plaza damage. At least six similar incidents occurred in the past year, including ATM thefts in Brampton, Whitby, and Etobicoke. Experts warn excavators can be driven off lots by buyers able to order keys online. No arrests have been made in these cases.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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