COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than $100,000 is missing after a bag of cash fell from an armored car into an intersection, leading several motorists to stop and grab handfuls of bills, police said Thursday.
About $100,000 was picked up by police officers and $12,000 more was returned by 10 or so people after the bag hit the pavement, was run over and split open Wednesday morning in Whitehall in suburban Columbus, said police Sgt. Dan Kelso. About 15 to 20 people scrambled to grab cash, Kelso said.
Callers told a 911 dispatcher that there were "$20 bills everywhere," "money floating all over the place" and "it's causing a major scene."
"A bunch of people are blocking traffic because it looks like a truck has lost some money," one caller told police.
The truck belonged to Garda Cash Logistics and the bag fell into the street about a block from a Garda facility. Joe Gavaghan, a spokesman for the Montreal-based company, said the firm was cooperating with police, but declined further comment.
Kelso said the cash was in various smaller bags and belongs to several businesses and banks.
"It's not free money," he said. "It's different than walking down the street and finding a $5 bill laying there. This is clearly marked, identifiable money that belongs to somebody else laying in the middle of a busy intersection with bank bags lying all over the place.
"It's no different than … if you found somebody's wallet and it was full of money, and clearly you can open the wallet and see it belongs to somebody. That's not your money."
Police were reviewing cell phone videos and surveillance video from a nearby stores, including a gas station, in an effort to find out who has the missing cash.
Kelso said no arrests had been made, but that people who fail to return cash could face charges such as grand theft.
"The people that have come in and been honest and turned in money, those people haven't been charged," Kelso said. "That's what people need to do because if we have to find them, which is what we're doing, we are going to charge them."
Kelso did not know where the vehicle was headed at the time, and it was unclear how the bag fell out of the truck.
"That's the $100,000 question," said Kelso.
