Raining money! Commuters shut down highway to collect wads of cash lying on road — watch video

The California Highway Patrol has since urged people who have picked up the money to return it. (File/Reuters)

Who would surrender money lying on the road? At least not the residents of southern California, it seems, after commuters stopped a busy freeway to frantically scramble for wads of dollar bills strewn on the road. A video of the incident shared by Instagram influencer Demi Bagby has gone viral on social media as she narrated what was going on in front of her.

It was the most insane thing she had ever seen, Bagby is heard saying in the video. Someone dropped money all over the freeway and shut it down, she added while panning her camera.

It has since been revealed that an armoured truck transporting the greenbacks dropped the money on the freeway. The local police department has already warned people of strict action if the stolen cash was not immediately returned.

The Associated Press reported the incident took place on Interstate 5 in Carlsbad shortly before 9.15 AM on Friday. The armoured truck was travelling from San Diego to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation office.

California Highway Patrol Sergeant Curtis Martin said one of the truck’s doors popped open and cash bags fell out. Several of the bags broke open and wads of cash, mostly of $1 and $20 denomination, got scattered across the road.

The California Highway Patrol has since urged people who have picked up the money to return it.

California Highway Patrol Officer Mary Bailey, in a statement on Friday, thanked people who had returned the money they collected. The agency also warned that multiple pictures and videos posted on social media captured faces and licence plates and Patrol was working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to identify the people who had taken part in the theft.

Reports said two people — a man and a woman — have already been arrested on suspicion of taking money. The pair’s car blocked traffic after they were locked out of the vehicle, the reports said.

A similar incident occurred in New Jersey in 2018 when an armoured truck spilled cash on the highway after its back door malfunctioned.

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