INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV/CNN/RNN) – Police in Indiana are warning anyone who may have kept money that fell from a Brinks armored truck Wednesday that they could be charged with theft.
After the door of a Brinks truck opened, dropping packages of money onto the interstate, police say they began receiving calls about money blowing around and people trying to catch it.
Drivers stopped in the middle of the interstate to pocket some of the thousands of dollars across both the east and westbound lanes of traffic, according to police.
Some of those drivers reportedly gathered the spilled money and left the scene before police arrived.
Witness Jazmyne Cooper says she was on her way to drop her grandmother off at the airport when she pulled over behind the scene.
“People were stopped in the middle of traffic. Like everyone came to a complete stop to get the money, and they got what they could and took off,” she said.
Cooper took video of the scene, showing what look like hundreds of $20 bills lying in the street. In the video, she says people even got off school buses to grab some loot.
Unfortunately, anyone who doesn’t return the cash could be charged with theft, as Sgt. John Perrine wrote on Twitter.
Perinne says troopers are following up on tips about drivers who may have taken some money.
“People know right from wrong and anyone we track down who kept a dollar of this money will be arrested for theft,” said First Sgt. Bill Dalton. “The time to do the right thing and call us to turn in the money is now, because once we knock on your door, you won’t be able to avoid being arrested.”
A Brinks truck lost money in I-70 near Sam Jones Expressway. Troopers are investigating & following up on tips about people who stopped to take??
Anyone who picked up money can be charged with theft
If you have money from the incident to return, contact the Indiana State Police
— Sgt. John Perrine (@ISPIndianapolis) May 2, 2018
Police note that a number of people have already returned the money they gathered from the scene without being charged with a crime.
Cooper says she listened to her grandmother and didn’t pick up anything.
“My grandmother told me God is probably going to bless me because I didn’t touch it,” she said. “Hopefully, I do get my blessings for not picking up what wasn’t mine.”
Police are actively working to recover the money, including increasing patrols in the area where it fell from the truck.
They have not released an exact number of how much was lost, beyond saying the amount was “substantial.”
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