By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Super Value’s president last night voiced fears that crime is “getting worse” after brazen thieves smashed through the walls and doors at its Golden Gates store in a failed bid to break-in to the ATM.

Debra Symonette told Tribune Business that “it’s something you see on TV that you never think happens here but here we go” after criminals used towing cable attached to a vehicle to tear down the glass doors and security bars protecting the in-store automated teller machine (ATM).

Revealing that the damage caused by the 5am raid was “pretty extensive” and “definitely worth several thousand dollars”, even though the ATM remained operable, she added that the 13-store supermarket chain is now assessing how to further upgrade security at all its outlets in a bid to prevent such incidents re-occurring.

“It’s a concern because it seems that things are getting worse,” Ms Symonette told this newspaper. “They’re taking desperate measures to get what they want, and this is a good example of using something to plough through the walls. That’s pretty unusual and really drastic.

“We’re going to try and figure out how we can reinforce the protection we have there. We have to come up with new ideas because these people think of new things every day. I must say that the damage is pretty significant. They took a pretty significant part of the wall down, all the glass doors, caused damage to the tiles. It’s pretty extensive. Definitely several thousand dollars. I can’t say for sure. Maybe $5,000, maybe more.”

The method used to break down Super Value’s doors and walls has become increasingly common in nations such as the US and UK, where criminals use tow cables, ropes and other devices attached to powerful vehicles to rip off and tear down security measures so they can break into stores and other assets.

“It’s something we see on TV and you never think it happens here. Here we go. It’s happened,” Ms Symonette said. “They’re [ATMs] so convenient for the customer. I’d hate to discontinue having them in the stores. It’s a pain to have people do stuff like that just to get to those machines.”

ATMs suddenly appear to have become a major target for criminals, this newspaper having been shown a damaged Bank of The Bahamas machine that criminals broke into at a location said to be Bargain City. Ms Symonette, confirming she had heard about this, said: “I guess it’s a pretty common thing now.

“Fortunately we didn’t have to stop anything because the damaged structure was in the section there. We were able to still let people into the other store sections and continue business as usual. Construction and repairs were ongoing while the store was open. They’ve gotten pretty far building it back up. I feel pretty safe; it’s to a point where everything is secured.

“We’re going to do some more work to reinforce it. It’s just so unfortunate that people don’t want to work. These days they want to take the easy way out and get it from somebody else that does all the work. It’s just so unfortunate that we have to spend money to fix something that shouldn’t be necessary because every time this type of thing happens it causes insurance rates to go up if they keep this up.”

Ms Symonette voiced optimism that the police will be able to catch the Golden Gates culprits, saying she was “pretty confident” based on the quality and coverage of surveillance videos.

“I guess we’re going to have to reinforce the security we have,” she said of the wider Super Value chain. “We’re going to have to install more cameras so that in the event of anything like this happening we will be able to see what really went on and track the culprits easier. We’ve just got to try to build back stronger and try to make sure that it’s reinforced against whatever force may be applied.

“I am concerned because you just have to be so careful about how to protect yourself every day. It’s something new, and you see so much happening around you and you wonder am I next. You’re just waiting and wondering and all you can do is try and protect yourself as best as possible and the police are able to catch up with these people doing all this crime.”

Police said they were called to the Blue Hill Road South store shortly before 5am on Monday. Thieves smashed the eastern glass doors to gain entry to steal the ATM. The incident damaged the store, including the ATM, which is still operable.