THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
10TV
Money is scattered across E. Broad Street in Whitehall.
More than $100,000 spilled out the back of an armored car in Whitehall yesterday, and most of it is still missing.
Police urged anyone who couldn't resist temptation to reconsider before officers come calling.
Whitehall Sgt. Dan Kelso said a Garda armored car was eastbound on E. Broad Street at 8:20 a.m. yesterday when a bag of cash fell from the back into the intersection at Hamilton Road.
"It hit the ground and split open, and there was money all over the place," Kelso said.
A unsecured door might have come open; police are investigating.
Drivers stopped their cars right in the road and jumped out to stuff their pockets with cash, snarling traffic in the area, police said. The armored-car driver didn't realize what had happened and kept going.
"Before we got there, we're hearing, there were an awful lot of people scurrying around," Kelso said.
Whitehall Police Sgt. Randy Snider said four people brought in $1,500 during the late afternoon and evening, bringing the day's total to eight people returning about $10,500.
"We're hoping that more people do the right thing," Snider said. There is the possibility that those who don't return the money will be prosecuted. The police department does have video and photographs.
"There's still a lot of money out there," Kelso said. "People need to come in and turn the money in. If they don't and we ID them, they will be facing charges."
Grand theft is the most likely charge. Keeping money from a bag marked Garda Security in the middle of a road while people watched is different from picking up a dollar bill blowing down the street, police said. It's clear that the money doesn't belong to you and that the owner can be located.
"I have my car parked on the lot," Kelso said. "Just because you find it there doesn't mean you can take it."
Detectives are reviewing cell-phone images and surveillance video from nearby stores to identify vehicles and people. If people turn the money in promptly, they'll likely be in the clear, Kelso said. "Honesty goes a long way with us."
The police station is at 365 S. Yearling Rd.
Harry W. Trombitas, special agent with the FBI's Columbus office, said the bureau investigates armored-car robberies but leaves "misplacements," such as the one in Whitehall, up to local authorities.
The incident is similar, though on a much smaller scale, to a 1987 case in which more than $1 million in cash fell out of an armored car onto I-71 near E. Broad Street. Although some people turned in cash - one man handed $57,000 to authorities on the same day - most of the money was never recovered, and no one was charged.
An investigation revealed that a warped back door had popped open.
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