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People dive for dollars in street after bank robbers toss money
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 2, 2001
WEST PALM BEACH -- A bank robbery turned into a free-for-all on a downtown street when thousands of dollars in cash went flying.
About a dozen people scooped up the money, which was thrown into the street Tuesday by two men who had just robbed a BankUnited branch, police said.
Those grabbing fistfuls of bills, some stained red from a hidden explosive dye-pack, included people driving Mercedes, BMWs and a Rolls Royce -- and a mother who left her baby in a stroller on the sidewalk to run into the street, witnesses said.
"People risked their lives running into traffic to scoop up the cash," said Donna Bashar, manager of a nearby apartment building. "The cash turned the entire street into chaos."
The armed men fled with an undisclosed amount in a truck they abandoned several blocks later, police said. Police think the men dumped some of the money because it was dye-stained.
"At first I thought it was a car accident because everyone was getting out of their cars and bending down," said valet Jimmy Charles. "But when I got real close I saw that it was people grabbing up money -- and lots of it."
But not everyone joined in the free-for-all.
Police said they recovered more than $1,000 from people who gathered cash off the street and gave it to officers.
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