Armored money truck spilled $100K in Charlotte. Bystanders grabbed cash, police say

Joe Marusak, Evan Moore
·2 min read
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more information about cash missing from the truck.

Bystanders grabbed loads of cash that flew from metal containers after an armored truck dropped the money on heavily traveled Sunset Road in part of north Charlotte Thursday morning, police said.

“Some individuals did make off with some cash,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police spokesman Mike Allinger told The Charlotte Observer.

People stole a total of $100,000 in cash, according to a police incident report obtained by The Charlotte Observer Friday morning.

The money was in “an unknown number of bags” that fell from the GardaWorld truck just before 10 a.m. in the 4500 block of Sunset Road, near Hamilton Circle, the report shows.

Police didn’t arrest anyone by late Thursday afternoon but are still investigating the case, Allinger said.

It’s unclear if all of the $100,000 listed on the CMPD report as stolen was deliberately collected and taken or if some of the scattered money blew away and went missing.

The incident caused traffic delays at Sunset and Reames roads near Interstate 77, as all but one lane of Sunset Road was closed near the intersection, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said on Twitter at 10 a.m.

“Please avoid the area and choose alternate routes,” police said.

Police on Thursday didn’t released details about what happened, saying only that the road is closed “due to an ongoing matter.”

The police report doesn’t indicate what caused the bags to fall from the truck. Allinger said something in the truck malfunctioned, causing it to stop on the road.

Photos posted by Queen City Nerve co-founder Ryan Pitkin on X, the former Twitter, showed the GardaWorld armored truck in the road and at least two CMPD cars that responded to the scene.

A WSOC helicopter crew reported seeing the bins on the road.

“One witness told me they saw folks running in different directions hugging bundles of money,” Pitkin said, first reporting the news on Thursday on X. Officers stood around one of the waist-high metal containers, one of the photos taken by Pitkin showed.

The truck was gone by noon, a Charlotte Observer reporter at the scene said.

Some local X users quoted Pitkin’s post, saying the incident was a missed opportunity.

GardaWorld did not respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.