Smash-and-grab Writ Large: The Pickup Truck As Burglary Tool

Back in the day, the typical "smash-and-grab" scenario was perpetrated by a pedestrian at a traffic light who broke a stopped car's window and grabbed a purse off the front seat. For the past several years, however, it's taken on a louder, more violent -- and ostensibly more lucrative -- connotation: Crashing a pickup into a convenience store, hooking a rope or chain around the resident ATM and yanking it out like a giant tooth. These days, with the crash-and-swipe still popular, it apparently means either the recession still has a good chunk of the population in its grip or thieves are too impatient for the stealth of slow-motion skimming at ATMs, gas pumps and retail check-outs.