Two people crashed a pickup truck into a convenience store to steal an ATM in the Riverdale area of the county.
"They have no idea what they did," said manager Jennifer Barksdale.
Rebuilding the front of Gene's Orange Market on Route 58 in Halifax County is no construction project any clerk there had planned on.
"When I came in, I knew we were remodeling the kitchen and I thought, well I didn't know he was going to do the front," said store clerk Jane Elliott.
Halifax County Sheriff Fred Clark says two people rammed a truck into the front of the store just before 3:00 A.M., blasting through the doors and front windows and knocking down support beams.
The two then loaded the store's ATM in the truck and drove away.
Tuesday afternoon investigators discovered the truck a few streets away but there's no sign of the thieves or the ATM.
It was an unusual crime with lasting damage.
The force of the pick-up truck actually pushed back two shelving units, crushing merchandise, and sending it throughout the store.
"We have a lot of fishing weights. They were sitting next to the door and they were just scattered all over," Elliot said.
The owner of the business, Gene Morris, doesn't have a price tag for the damage but says it's in the tens of thousands.
And he says he has no idea how much money was in the ATM.
"We're like a family, we've been here a long time. It hurts. It makes you mad," Barksdale said.
It could be weeks before the store is back open.
Not First Break in this week
Sheriff Clark says it's just a coincidence the ATM robbery comes just days after a string of break ins in the town of Halifax.
The town is seven miles northeast of Gene's Orange Market.
Investigators say thieves broke into five businesses taking money, a gun, a wireless Internet card and a truck.
"I never thought that would happen to me I guess that gives you a wake up call that you need to take measures as well as security systems and things like that," said Betsye Throckmorton, owner of The Packhouse Cafe.
No town officer was on duty when the break ins happened.
A new police chief will join the three member force next month.
Locals say this is the first time since the early 1970's there's been a break in on Main Street in Halifax.
