FORT BEND COUNTY, TX (Covering Katy News) - Dmyree Martin, 21, of Katy, is locked up at the Fort Bend County Jail, accused of burglarizing an ATM by using a stolen pick-up truck to pull it off its pedestal at a credit union in Indiana.
The crime happened on August 24. The thieves stole the money from the ATM and abandoned the truck at the credit union. He faces a charge of theft - property value at least $50,000.
Investigators believe Martin is a member of the Greenheart Gang based in Lafayette.
"Members of this gang are known to conduct robberies of ATMs throughout the Southern and Midwestern United States," said a press release from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office.
"We did not solve this case on our own," said Sheriff Noah Robinson. "The Evansville Police Department's use of the Flock Safety system to identify our suspect vehicle is what broke the case."
The Flock Safety system uses license plate reading cameras to provide day and night monitoring for police departments, homes, businesses, and neighborhoods.
Investigators used the system to recreate the route of a Chevy Tahoe, believed to be the getaway vehicle, and then follow it until a traffic stop was made.
They discover the SUV began its journey in Houston on the day of the crime and traveled to St. Louis, Missouri; Evansville, Indiana; and Henderson, Kentucky. One day later it was located in Lafayette, Louisiana, and pulled over. Nothing in the Tahoe linked it to the ATM heist, but several cell phones were seized from people riding in the vehicle.
Subsequent interviews allowed detectives to gather enough evidence to arrest Martin.
Martin is awaiting extradition from Fort Bend County to Vanderburgh County, Indiana. He lives in a Katy neighborhood that is in unincorporated Harris County between Katy Hockley Cut Off Road, Clay Road, Porter Road and Morton Road. It's not far from Katy Park.
This story was updated on Nov. 21, 2023 at 12:20 p.m. to include information about the location of Martin's Katy area neighborhood.