One looter has a change of heart

Returns spilled money under amnesty

MIAMI (CNN) -- At least one Miami resident has turned in a bag of money, taking advantage of an amnesty program, after an estimated $500,000 showered into a street when an armored truck overturned Wednesday morning.

Miami police said they did not know yet how much money was in the bag but that no one else had taken advantage of a police offer of amnesty for returned cash.

Police detectives say they have been finding, in their door- to-door questioning of neighbors, that some have already had their money stolen from their homes.

Until Friday, police said there had been no takers on the no-questions-asked offer of amnesty by police to anyone who returns money before Saturday at noon.

But police say they are getting encouraging leads, along with other information pertaining to the money, as a cloud of mistrust has filled the neighborhood, according to police.

"No neighbors are talking to any neighbors. No one trusts anyone. Everyone suspects everyone else," said Lt. Bill Schwartz of Miami Police.

"One woman gave her sack of money to her boyfriend, fearing it would be stolen from her. Well, she now says her boyfriend has skipped town, and now she wants to file a police report," Schwartz told CNN.

"Another man, apparently grabbed a few sacks of money, tossed them in his house and returned to pick up some of the quarters on the ground. Well, we chased him from the scene, and he returned only to find his home burglarized and the money gone," Schwartz said.

Police say a few motorists on the freeway ramp that leads to I-95 where the accident occurred stopped to aid the truck's drivers, but police say more motorists stopped to grab some money and flee the scene.

"They just threw the money in their cars and went on to work. We have some leads on them and hope to make arrests sometime soon," Schwartz said.

There has been only one arrest so far. A man who allegedly hit a Florida Highway Patrol trooper while trying to get the money Wednesday was arrested.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in coins, bills and food stamps rained down on a trash-lined street after the Brinks truck overturned on an overpass.

Related stories:

• Miami police ask looters: Give the money back - January 9, 1997
• Pennies from heaven? Maybe $1 million - January 8, 1997

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