1 year later: Nearly all of $175K still missing after armored truck spilled cash on I-285

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Who could forget video of drivers stopping their cars on the interstate and grabbing handfuls of cash that spilled from an armored truck?

It’s been exactly one year since that happened on I-285 in DeKalb County.

Channel 2 Action News reached out to DeKalb County Police Department to get an update on how much cash was returned to police – and it was just a few thousand.

In total, $175,000 spilled out onto the interstate on the morning on July 9 near Ashford-Dunwoody Road.

[Police warn drivers who grabbed $175K that spilled onto I-285 to turn in money]

Police said more than 15 cars were stopped in the middle of the busy interstate while people “frantically” collected the cash along the road.

Police urged the drivers to turn in the money, but in total, only $6,201 was returned.

Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston talked to a good Samaritan who returned more than $2,000 in 2019 because he said his parents raised him right.

"Shout out to my mom and dad," Randall Lewis said. "They trained me really well."

Still, Lewis said what he saw was like something straight out of a movie or a video game.

“It looked like piles of leaves blowing in the wind,” Lewis said. “I could not believe my eyes that this was legit money.”

Amazingly, no crashes or injuries were reported from the impromptu cash grab.

Police warn drivers who grabbed $175K that spilled onto I-285 to turn in money Dunwoody police said it was around 8 p.m. when an armored truck's side door opened while on the highway near Ashford-Dunwoody road, spilling cash onto the westbound lanes.

Cox Media Group