Oct. 31--Some Halloween drivers got an early treat in Maryland when a bag of cash fell from an armored truck Friday morning, sending drivers scrambling into the roadway after the floating greenbacks.
An armored vehicle was headed north on Route 270 in Frederick, Md., when a door lock malfunctioned and a bag loaded with cash to flew into the roadway around 8 a.m., Maryland State Police said in a news release.
The driver pulled over, but by that time, several motorists had also run into the busy highway to collect the free-floating cash. Most of the drivers chasing twenty-dollar bills stopped their cars in the middle of the highway during the morning rush hour, said Greg Shipley, a State Police spokesman.
Shipley said no one was injured and there were no crashes on the highway, one of the main arteries heading into Washington, D.C.
Police are not sure how much money was in the bag or how much was lost, but the crowd did not disperse until a fire truck rolled up and began flashing its emergency lights.
Authorities were only able to recover about $200. It was not clear where the truck was going or who the money belonged too.
Calls to GardaWorld International Protection Services, which owned the truck, were not returned.
Police are urging drivers who picked up the cash to return it to a local police station. So far only one woman has done so; she returned $1,160, Shipley said.
The State Police have assigned detectives to seek out surveillance footage from the area. Shipley warned the other motorists that their good fortune could actually land them before a judge if police are able to track the money to anyone who was scouring the highway.
While those who return the money voluntarily will not be prosecuted, Shipley said. Others could be charged with theft.
"It should have been pretty obvious to the individuals there ... with the truck just sitting on the side of the road that it's not really your money," Shipley said.
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