You've heard of it raining men before. The only other thing we could only dream of falling from the sky would be cold hard cash. For some people, that dream came true this week.
On the I-285 in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday evening, one armoured truck truly made it rain. While traveling west near Ashford Dunwoody, an GardaWorld truck's side doors accidentally opened, spilling money all over the interstate.
And passing cars were quick to notice bills of every variety - ones, tens, even fifties. A video shows a long line of vehicles on the side of the road while passengers scramble to collect as much floating cash as they can carry. Though the truck crew tried to follow in their footsteps, they only managed to save about $200.
By the time police showed up at 8 p.m., most of the cars were gone. Authorities estimate that about 50 people snatched around $175,000.
But as we know, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Police are asking anyone who got a bit of unexpected cash to return it. If they don't, and they took more than $1,500, they could be charged with theft or mislaid property. If the stolen amount is more, it is considered a felony in Georgia.
Two individuals have come forward so far, collectively returning only $2,600. Police hope to track down the rest of the missing bills by picking out license plates from videos taken on the interstate, though they hope they won't have to go door-to-door.
Dunwoody police spokesman Sergeant Robert Parsons told AJC.com said that culprits need to realise that the law is the law and that this money belongs to someone:
“If you bring the money into Dunwoody Police Department, 24/7, and turn it in, that’s it. We’re done. We’re all human beings, we all understand this is something that just doesn’t happen. You’re driving down the interstate and money falls out of the sky.”
Though, Parsons knows that these efforts are partially futile: “We understand, realistically, at the end of the day, we’re not going to recover all this money. Some of it was gone forever the minute it hit the pavement.”
Several cars could be seen lining up at the scene of the crime the day after, hoping to find any leftovers from the spill. And though traffic jams are usually nothing but disheartening, we can all get behind this one.
