People were spotted “removing money from the scene and fleeing the area” both by foot and in vehicles, according to police
Between 50 and 100 people took off with roughly $300,000 total this week — after bags of cash fell out of an armored truck in the Chicago area.
The Oak Park Police Department (OPPD) in Illinois said in a report that on Tuesday, April 22, a Brinks Home security representative claimed a truck was traveling southbound on the 300 block of South Austin Boulevard at 5:07 p.m. local time, when its “backdoor opened by unknown means.”
As a result, three bags full of money fell onto the road. When the employee returned to the scene, they spotted dozens of people removing the money, before fleeing “on foot” and “in vehicles.”
The representative told police that the total estimated loss was around $300,000. Speaking to NBC Chicago, a Village of Oak Park spokesperson confirmed that no one was in custody as of Friday, April 25.
Representatives for the OPPD and Brinks did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information on Sunday, April 27.
The recent incident isn’t the first time that money has fallen out of a moving truck in recent years.
Back in November 2021, the door of an armored truck in California apparently burst open on the Interstate 5 freeway near San Diego, prompting drivers to stop their cars to pick up the cash.
“One of the doors popped open and bags of cash fell out,” a California Highway Patrol official told the San Diego Tribune at the time. “One of the bags broke apart, and there was cash all over the lanes.”
The truck was apparently on the way to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. office, with the loose cash appearing to be primarily singles and $20 bills.
A CHP spokesperson encouraged those who grabbed any of the cash to turn it in at the CHP office in Vista, California.
Before that, in May 2018, Indiana State Police revealed that a Brinks armored truck’s door opened, and packages of money were released near the Sam Jones Expressway. Authorities said a “substantial amount” of money fell out of the truck.
