Cash scattered on Southern California highway sends drivers into frenzy: NPR

The California Highway Patrol is looking for motorists who stopped to collect money from the freeway after piles of bills fell from an armored vehicle Friday morning.

Chris Carlson / AP

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Chris Carlson / AP

The California Highway Patrol is looking for motorists who stopped to collect money from the freeway after piles of bills fell from an armored vehicle Friday morning.

Chris Carlson / AP

Traffic was halted Friday morning in California after an armored vehicle accidentally spilled cash across the freeway, just north of San Diego. Several drivers and passengers jumped out of their cars to get what they could. But the police want it all back.

The armored vehicle was moving north along I-5 in Carlsbad around 9:15 a.m. when one of the doors suddenly opened and the bag flew out. Cars parked on their shoulders and in the middle of the road, as drivers and passengers raced to pick up bills – mostly $1 and $20 bills – scattered on the ground, San Diego Union Tribune report.

But the California Highway Patrol is warning those who seize the moment to transfer cash.

“I strongly recommend to anyone who has received cash here – it’s not your cash, so go straight to the CHP office in Vista,” said CHP Sgt. Curtis Martin told reporters.

Two people were arrested at the scene for allegedly collecting what they could, and others submitted what they collected, Tribune reported.

Videos on social media showed people picking up some cash along the highway. Martin told reporters that these videos capture faces and license plates from the event and that CHP is working with the FBI to identify people who may not have transferred the money.

The armored vehicle was transporting money from San Diego to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s offices, possibly in Los Angeles or Orange County. The highway reopened at about 11 a.m., AP news agency reported.