Driver Tosses $100 Bills Out the Window on Interstate, Causing ‘Significant Traffic Hazard'

Drivers on Interstate 5 in Oregon got a chance for a cash grab last week when a driver tossed hordes of bills out of his window.

On April 11, Oregon State Police and other local authorities received multiple calls reporting money “floating” along Interstate 5 in Eugene, Oregon State Police Capt. Kyle Kennedy confirmed in an email statement to TODAY.com.

According to Kennedy, multiple cars had stopped along the highway’s north and south lanes so people could hunt for what appeared to be loose $100 bills.

Eventually, police located the source of the highway hullabaloo: 38-year-old Colin Davis McCarthy, who said he wanted to gift the money, which he claimed amounted to $200,000.

“However, there wasn’t really a way to confirm how much money was ‘gifted,’” Kennedy said.

Concerned that the cash drop was causing a "significant traffic hazard" (in the words of Kennedy), troopers asked McCarthy to stop his giveaway. 

“McCarthy was cooperative and agreed to stop leaving money on the roadway,” stated Kennedy, who also confirmed that no criminal charges are currently being considered.

For drivers with the notion to gear up and head to Interstate 5 for a modern-day gold rush, don’t bother.

According to Kennedy, motorists did a “thorough job of gathering the loose money.” The next morning, troopers followed up with the incident but could not locate any additional currency along the roadway. 

“OSP is urging the public to avoid the temptation to go looking for money along the highway,” Kennedy remarked. “These searches create a hazardous condition and put both the searchers and motorists at risk.”

Last July, a similar — albeit safer — giveaway tale caught the eye of users on social media when Kevin Cate shared a viral Twitter post featuring a Waffle House customer sitting at a table and handling bundles of cash.

According to Cate, the man in the photo said he'd given away one-dollar bills and five-dollar bills to "strangers, kids and people" since 2014 — a small act of kindness that the man said tallied up to more than $13,000 and came wrapped with a special message: “Love every body.”

“He told me those were the last three words his mother said to him. And he says it to me again,” Cate recalled. “She didn’t say ‘I love you.’ She said, ‘Love every body.’ So that’s what I’m doing. Loving every body."

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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