Bungling would-be thieves have caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage during the second early morning ram raid in a week at a Tuggeranong shopping centre.
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This time the dog wash at the Calwell Shopping Centre was the target of ram raiders who tried to tow the huge machine behind a banged-up ute. But despite several attempts, they fail to get away with their target.
CCTV captured three people in a white Ford Ranger trayback yanking the metal gates of the dog wash off using a tow rope about 2.20am on Thursday.
One man in a hood is seen to slip the rope around the dog washing machine as another man reversed the ute back towards the ruined gates.
The ute is seen to reverse too far, smashing into the machine at a high speed.
The driver exits the car and fiddles with the rope before both men get back into the vehicle and inch it forward.
After more fumbling around, the men jump back in the ute and floor it - but the tow rope slips off.
The footage shows them speeding off empty-handed.
The third person remained in the front passenger seat of the vehicle the entire time.
Night security guard Jacob Mercer was keeping an eye on the door smashed in by the last ram raid when he saw the offenders rip the gates off.
He was calling police when the bandits realised they had company.
"They screamed out of here and noticed I was watching them on my phone and they swerved towards the car. Apparently [the car they were driving] was involved in a few different things overnight," Mr Mercer said.
The dog washing machine, estimated to be worth about $23,000, will be out of action for several weeks and a drink machine was also damaged.
Despite lasting less than 10 minutes, centre manager Arthur Tsoulias said up to $40,000 of damage was caused during the destructive raid.
ACT Policing said they have now located a "suspicious vehicle", which "may be related to the incident".
A spokeswoman said investigations were ongoing and no further information was available at this stage.
This ram raid comes less than a week after thieves rammed their way into the centre and stole boxes of cigarettes from Woolworths.
The two offenders managed to stall their car as they tried to smash their way out of the centre, later torching the vehicle.
Police ask anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or act.crimestoppers.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.
