by KYW's Matt Leon and Pat Loeb

Philadelphia police are asking for the public's help in finding a group of thieves who have been breaking into ATM machines all over the city -- using a blowtorch.

Chief inspector William Colarulo of the Special Investigations Unit says the thieves have struck ten times since January. He says they've gotten away with hundreds of thousands of dollars already:

"On average these ATM machines can encase anywhere between a couple of thousand dollars to well over a hundred thousand dollars."

Colarulo says police are sure the burglaries are related because they all followed the same pattern. The machines were all in businesses located next to a vacant lot:

"What these individuals do is they gain access through a wall of the vacant lot, and then once inside they use an acetylene-type torch to burn a hole into the ATM machine."

Colarulo provided a list of all the similar heists:

  01/15/08 - 3100 N. 15th Street
  01/25/08 - 401 N. 54th Street
  02/10/08 - 5911 Lancaster Avenue
  02/10/08 - 304 W. Chelten Avenue
  02/14/08 - 3100 N. 15th Street
  02/19/08 - 1431 Vernon Road
  02/26/08 - 301 W. Coulter Street
  02/28/08 - 4837 Woodland Avenue
  02/29/08 - 1859 N. Van Pelt Street
  05/17/08 - 101 E. Allegheny Avenue

He says that all of the burglaries occurred by breaking through connecting vacant property walls with the exception of 5911 Lancaster Avenue, in which entry was gained by breaking through a rear cinderblock wall. 

Police are asking that anyone who observed anything out of the ordinary at these locations on these dates, or who knows anything about the crimes, call 215-686-3362.

(File photo)