Here in Georgia as the General Assembly has refused to enact laws to make ATMs safer we are seeing more and more ATM assaults. Although Atlanta residents often feel quite safe going to their local ATM, many of these machines do not have basic safety mechanisms such as enhanced security cameras, panic alarms or emergency phones.
Just during this holiday week at least two ATM robberies took place in the Atlanta area.
On Sunday morning, a man was robbed at gunpoint at an ATM on Buford Highway. The 43-year-old man who lives in the area reportedly got off of a bus at 7:30 a.m. before walking to a Wells Fargo ATM to take out some cash.
Just after he was finished at the ATM, a car pulled up behind him and put a gun to his back before taking $400, a money network card and his watch.
Then on Wednesday a man was kidnapped during a home invasion in Cabbagetown before his captors drove him to an ATM and forced him to retrieve money for them.
Three men had reportedly invaded the home and kidnapped the 23-year-old man inside. The man has since been returned safely.
Fortunately, neither of these men seem to have been injured during the robberies, according to news reports. However, that is not always the case during ATM assaults and robberies.
When someone in Georgia is injured or robbed while using an ATM, a premises liability attorney may be able to help him or her receive compensation for any medical expenses, pain and suffering and other effects of the incident. Residents of Atlanta should not have to fear for their safety at the ATM.
Source: NorthDruidHills.Patch.com, “Man Robbed Outside Buford Highway Bank,” Jonathan Cribbs, July 6, 2012
Source: MyFoxAtlanta.com, “1 kidnapped in Atlanta home invasion,” July 4, 2012