Surreal scene on a California highway: bundles of cash escape from an armored truck
Steph Deschamps / November 21, 2021
A cash-in-transit van spilled wads of cash on a California highway Friday, causing drivers to rush to take advantage of the windfall.But the joy of the motorists will have been short-lived, the police having quickly arrived on the scene to restore order, arresting in passing two people too greedy.
There are numerous videos of people stealing the money on the highway by picking it up off the ground, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Curtis Martin said at a news conference.
The bills that escaped from the truck, which total thousands of dollars, belong to the bank and must be handed over to a police station, he insisted.
The jackpot was caused by the unexpected opening of an armored car door near San Diego, not far from the border with Mexico.
Videos posted on social media show people stopping on the lanes and hard shoulder and rushing to the road to pick up handfuls of greenbacks. Some even throw them in the air like confetti.
Police warned that they would also use the videos to track down those who did not return the money. It's better for them to play it straight than to wait for us to find them and knock on their door, Martin said.
Police have already arrested a man and a woman at the scene who rushed for the tickets but in their haste locked their vehicles from the outside, getting stuck on the highway.