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Investigators believe about six people have been working together to break into banks and pharmacies across the city, with the most recent incidents occurring in Packer Park and Whitman Monday.

Dennis Woods

Police have identified one suspect — Dennis Woods, aka Dennis Boyce, 37, of the 2400 block of South American Street — as one of the men allegedly responsible for 10 burglaries that have spanned from Northeast to Southwest Philly and resulted in huge monetary losses and property damage, Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detective Division said at a press conference Monday evening.

Woods, a Deptford, N.J. native, and the other burglars allegedly work in teams, with one crew cutting the power lines, one man staying behind to see if police respond and another group returning later in the night with the tools necessary to break in to steal narcotics from pharmacies and/or money from ATMs, Walker said.

“We know they’re a bunch of amateurs, but obviously they’re organized in that they’re able to do the things they need to do to prevent the police from coming, so they do have some organization,” Walker said.

At 5 p.m. Sunday, two people cut the power at PNC Bank, 1544 Packer Ave., and two hours later, they performed the same task at Wells Fargo Bank, 2710 S. Third St., police said.

At 4:25 a.m. Monday, three people returned to Wells Fargo with a blowtorch and gained access through a rear door. They attempted to pry open the vault and torched the ATM for about 25 minutes, but instead of opening the machine, they ignited a fire, which may have caused them to panic, as they fled with nothing and did not return to PNC, police said.

“As a result of those two incidents, we looked back through a series of burglaries and break-ins at pharmacies and banks that occurred throughout the city,” Walker said.

Investigators determined the group has attempted to burglarize six bank ATMs plus two more at pharmacies, successfully gaining access to four of them and taking more than $100,000, and stole various narcotics from four pharmacies. Their methods of entry have varied, but have included utilizing a front and rear door, a basement and an adjoining brick wall to access a building.

The conspiracy began May 5 at Northeast Philly’s Delaire Pharmacy where they took various drugs. On June 22, they entered Northern Liberties’ Hyperion Bank and burned through an ATM, taking $47,000. In a Southwest Philly Rite Aid, they stole narcotics from two safes and an unknown amount of money from an ATM and a lottery machine. Five days later, they accessed a PNC Bank in Northeast Philly where they swiped $60,930 from an ATM. Still in Northeast Philly, they obtained painkillers, cash, jewelry and electronics totaling $50,000 from Kmart Aug. 5 and an unknown amount of cash and narcotics from Verree Pharmacy Aug. 9. They had two unsuccessful attempts of torching drive-through ATMs at a Southwest and Northeast Philly Wells Fargo Bank Aug. 10.

“So it looks like they’re trying to do two a night in areas right off the [Interstate] 95 corridor — quick escape routes in areas where there’s not a lot of people,” Walker said.

While an estimated figure for damage was not available, authorities worry the amount of damage could quickly escalate if the burglars’ carelessness continues.

“Our concern is they go into other types of strip malls that aren’t built as concrete structures and that spark hits wood and wood takes off and we’re concerned then we could lose a strip mall,” Walker said. “These people are very dangerous and they may think they’re just robbing cash out of a cash machine, but they are causing a great inconvenience to a lot of people.”

A warrant was issued for Woods’ arrest June 24. At that time, he was only linked to the May 5 break-in. Video surveillance and his past record, which consists of 22 convictions or guilty pleas to burglaries, thefts, aggravated assaults and conspiracies — including a rash of eight local theft-related arrests in late-1997, according to court records, led investigators to Woods. An FBI task force has been looking for him since then, but since police linked him to nine other crimes Monday, authorities are now seeking the public’s assistance.

“We know these people are in the area, we know people know them, we know they’re in the Philadelphia region,” Walker said. “[The crimes are] creating a lot of havoc for everybody.”

To report information, call South Detectives’ tip line at 215-685-1635, text PPDTIP (773847) or visit phillypolice.com/forms.

Contact Managing Editor Amanda L. Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.

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