Around 4 a.m. on Thursday, March 12, the driver of a Ford F-350 appeared to intentionally back into the front door of Wilson Foods in Arlee, and two suspects attempted to remove the ATM inside.  

The camera inside the store shows them yanking back and forth on the ATM for four minutes while they tried to break the bolts holding it to the ground. They failed to remove it and fled the scene.  

In an interview Thursday afternoon, store owner Rowan Wilson explained that nothing was stolen during the attempted heist.  

“It was really fast; it was like a grab-and-go but with an ATM machine,” he said.  

Wilson received an alert from Mission Valley Security that the store's glass was broken. But due to a high wind warning in the area on Thursday and because sometimes his fuel delivery truck sets off the alarm by shaking the glass, he thought nothing of it and told them not to send the police.  

Just moments later, he received a call from Lake County Dispatch about a break-in reported by a neighbor. While typically he has to wait for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department to arrive, they were already in the area and beat him to the scene.  

“I pulled up, and I was just kind of shocked. It's like, ‘Wow, they really did it,’” Wilson said. “I can't believe that somebody had the nerve to actually attempt it.”  

He was surprised that nothing else had been taken and noted that this was one of 18 attempted break-ins since the store opened in 2001.  

Wilson said they were a bit slow to open, waiting for law enforcement to gather evidence and remove the ATM. Once the police left, he said everyone jumped in to help remove the broken doors.  

With a gaping hole in the front of the building, Wilson wondered how to secure the entrance and joked he thought they might have to be a 24/7 store for a while.  

Although cold air drifted into the store from the hole, it didn’t slow down business. As customers asked questions, employees retold the events and cracked jokes about breaking in themselves to open the store that morning.  

Wilson called a local contractor who had done work for the store before and asked what would be the best way to patch the hole; they considered temporarily framing the opening and installing a household door. Ultimately, Montana Glass provided him with a temporary glass door until the replacement can be shipped and installed.  

The suspect vehicle is a 2004 beige four-door F-350 with no license plates and a silver toolbox, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office press release. The truck has no tailgate, possible rear-end damage and decals on the rear window.  

As of Tuesday, March 17, Sheriff Done Bell said they are tracking down leads and that the case is still under investigation.  

The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information on the vehicle's whereabouts to contact Lake County Dispatch at 406-883-7301 or email detective Brian Hines at [email protected].  

    Store owner Rowan Wilson plays back footage from the security camera showing the driver of the Ford backing into the front door of Wilson Foods. (Emily Messer/Leader)