After a chase of around 40 kilometers, the police were able to arrest three suspected ATM bombers early on Wednesday morning.
The trio is said to have blown up the Volksbank machine in Kierspe, Sauerland, shortly before 2 a.m.
The branch was severely damaged by the force of the detonation, but no one was injured.
The police immediately launched a massive manhunt.
A little later, officials spotted the trio's highly motorized Audi in Halver, and later in Wermelskirchen in the Rheinisch-Bergisch district.
According to the investigators, the vehicle was also traveling at extremely high speed in Burscheid, and “the occupants blinded the pursuing police vehicle with a laser pointer”.
In a cul-de-sac in Odenthal, the trio tried to flee on foot into a wooded area, but were located by helicopter and arrested by patrol officers.
The three suspects are Dutch citizens aged 23 and 24.
For a number of years, North Rhine-Westphalia has been the regional focus of a tightly organised, division of labor group of Dutch people, mostly of North African origin, who break open ATMs late at night and regularly steal large sums of money in the process.
Because the criminals are often on the road in stolen high-powered Audi cars, the group is also known as the Audi gang.