EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — An armored Brink's truck scattered money across New Jersey Route 3, causing delays as people got out of their cars to scoop up the cash fluttering around on the road, witnesses say.
East Rutherford police received calls at 8:30 a.m. EST that the bullet-resistant truck was spilling cash along the 12-lane highway. A video posted on Twitter showed several people out of their cars, grabbing money while other cars were delayed or drove around them.
The commotion caused multiple related crashes, police said.
The training building that the New York Giants use is in the background of one video.
Betsy Richards of Montclair, New Jersey, was on a NJ Transit bus into New York City when traffic started to slow down on the route. She said the Brink’s truck did not look damaged, so she did not know whether it had been in a collision or if the truck’s doors somehow had swung open.
Richards could see a man in a Brink’s uniform running through traffic trying to collect the money flying around the road, she said.
“People started stopping and people were jumping out of cars grabbing cash,” Richards said.
She could see $1, $5 and even $100 bills on the road, and people on her bus felt bad for the Brink's worker, she said.
"People were saying he's definitely going to get fired," Richards said. "It's Christmas for some and the loss of a job for another."
Several videos and photos from people on the highway were posted to Twitter and Facebook.
In May, another Brink's truck dropped more than a half million dollars on Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. The vehicle's back doors swung open when it slowed to a stop, causing $600,000 in bags, bundles and loose bills to fall out.
People then were jumping over fences and crawling on the ground to claim some of the cash, police said.
By the way, the money is not finders/keepers. Indianapolis police said they would track down every missing dollar and arrest the thieves.
East Rutherford police are saying the same thing.
"It would be like theft of mislaid goods," police Capt. Phil Taormina said. "The truck was parked on the shoulder and two armed guards, Brink's employees, were trying to gather the money."
While in transit, the money belongs to Brink's, and those social media posts are an investigator's friend in trying to find folks with sticky fingers.
Similar incidents happened when armored vehicles' doors malfunctioned in June 2016 in Providence, Rhode Island; in July 2015 in Baltimore; in April 2015 in both Weatherford, Texas, and Salt Lake City; in January 2015 in Queens, New York; in October 2014 in Urbana, Maryland; and March 2012 in Montgomery County, Maryland.
On Thursday, Brink's did not immediately return calls for comment. East Rutherford police are asking anyone with information or video to call 201-438-1065.
