When Kerby Tang stopped by his Shellbrook, Sask., gas station early Saturday morning to check in after his security alarm went off, he was amazed at the disarray both inside and outside.

Shelves of gas station goodies had been toppled, the Tempo station's coffee counter demolished, the north wall of the building dislodged and a door, torn off its hinges, was on the ground.

"I didn't realize at the time what could have caused that type of mess," Tang said.

Security video shows thieves rip ATM out of Sask. store with truck. 1:33

Once he saw the security footage from around 4 a.m., the cause of the mess quickly came into focus: a truck had backed up to the store, two people got out and one ran to wrap a tow rope around the ATM inside.

The other person got back in the truck, revved it up and pulled the machine out, knocking down everything in its path.

"I've never seen anything quite like it, quite as violent and aggressive.… It's something you would see in the movies, not in a small town in central Saskatchewan," Tang said.

"It was pretty jaw-dropping."

'It was very invasive'

The surveillance video shows that all of this happened within less than a minute and a half.

Just 10 days earlier, on June 19, someone had tied a chain onto the front door and tore it off with a vehicle. All the criminals took were a few bags of chips, which is baffling to Tang.

That alone had been awful to deal with, he said.

"It was very invasive just seeing anyone in there, let alone what happened … with the ATM theft," he said.

These are the first major incidents Tang has encountered in the three years since he returned to Shellbrook — a town of about 1,300 that's 122 kilometres north of Saskatoon — after moving away.

They have put a sour taste in his mouth, even though he was intending to close the store for renovations on July 4 anyway.

The plan is for renovations to take place in the fall.

Shellbrook RCMP confirm they're investigating both incidents.

They said the truck seen in the surveillance video had been stolen from a local dealership earlier that day and was located by 10 a.m. in Parkside, a community 11 kilometres away.

Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers or the local RCMP detachment at 306-747-2606.