For a second time in 2 days, men rob Houston hotels of ATMs

HOUSTON (AP) — For the second time in as many days a gang has stormed into a Houston Marriott hotel lobby and dashed out with an automated cash machine.

Houston police say the manager of a Courtyard by Marriot hotel on the city's west side reported about five to eight men carried out the ATM, tossed it into an SUV and drove off around midnight Tuesday.

Police Lt. Larry Crowson says authorities are trying to determine if the heist is connected to a similar robbery a night earlier when seven to 10 men hit another Marriott a few miles away and fled with that hotel's ATM.

In each case, the cash machine was not secured or bolted down, making it easier to steal.

No one's been hurt in either of the robberies.