SANTA ANA, Calif. — California authorities released surveillance video Friday of the brazen theft of $145,000 from the parked vehicle of a courier for a marijuana product distributor, KTLA reported.
According to the Santa Ana Police Department, the courier parked his unmarked work vehicle at a gas station around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday and walked inside.
The courier had picked up large cash deposits from several dispensaries before making the stop, KTLA reported.
In the surveillance video provided by the gas station, a white Nissan Pathfinder can be seen pulling up to the passenger side of the victim’s vehicle within moments of it being left unattended. A man is seen exiting the Pathfinder’s front seat, shattering the victim’s passenger side window and snatching what investigators later determined totaled $145,000 in cash, the police department said in a press release.
Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told The Associated Press that the thief grabbed two satchels full of cash from the center console of the victim’s van.
The video then shows the thief returning to the Pathfinder’s passenger seat and the vehicle driving away.
Bertagna told the AP that investigators do not believe the victim was involved in the crime.
KTLA reported the license plate on the Nissan appeared to be a temporary dealer plate that may have been altered.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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