A California family coming back from the funeral of a loved threw cash out of their car onto a California freeway as an unusual way of honoring the dead relative’s memory.
Officers with the California Highway Patrol said they received multiple calls about cash strewn across Interstate 880 in Hayward, but when they arrived on the scene—the money was gone.
Dashcam footage obtained by KTVU shows cars coming to a stop as drivers and passengers rushed out to grab the money on the highway’s southbound lanes.
The family members, who asked to not be identified, told KTVU that all told they had dumped about $500 onto the freeway in $20 bills.
Casting the money into the wind was, according to a family member, a way to honor their recently deceased loved one.
It’s an “Oakland thing,” the relative told KTVU.
Armored Truck Dumps $510,000
The incident recalls a similar case that happened last year in New Jersey when an armored truck spilled over half a million dollars in cash along a highway during the morning rush hour and sparked chaos.East Rutherford Police said two bags containing a total of $510,000 in cash fell out the back door of the armored truck. Officials believe of the truck’s doors may have malfunctioned and become unsecured.
While Brink’s personnel ran around collecting the money, drivers excitedly stopped their cars and ran onto the highway, grabbing money.
People traveling on Route 3 posted several videos and photos on Twitter and Facebook.
Drivers and Brink’s personnel recovered roughly $205,000 on the spot.
Five people later contacted the police and turned in a little more than $11,000. The remaining $293,535 was still missing when the police took to Twitter to announce the incident.
People who pick up and keep money that does not belong to them could be charged with theft, police said.
“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.”
Like the recent incident, people were also scrambling to pick up cash. But once again, police reminded the public that it’s theft.
