Global Courant 2023-04-14 15:37:15
A screenshot from a news report shows a bystander finding several $100 bills on the Interstate 5 freeway after it was flung from a vehicle.KESI 9
Several bystanders stopped on a highway to grab money after an Oregon man threw it from his car.
The man told police he threw away about $200,000 to “bless others,” according to a report.
A family member told police that the money came from their shared bank accounts, bankrupting them.
A man threw piles of cash out of his car window on Oregon’s I-5 freeway Tuesday night, prompting several lucky bystanders to stop their vehicles to grab the cash.
But the family of Colin Davis McCarthy, 38, told Oregon State Police that he drained their shared bank accounts to fund the stunt, putting them out of business.
Police responded to a report that cash was thrown from a vehicle on the highway near Eugene, Oregon, by about 7 p.m. Tuesday. ABC News affiliate KEZI 9.
The news outlet identified McCarthy as the man who threw the money. He later told troopers that he had distributed about $200,000 in total, KEZI 9 reported.
Officials said the figure was uncertain but likely lower, in the thousands of dollars, according to CBS affiliate KUTV. News footage showed that at least some of the money was in $100 bills, suggesting a large total.
McCarthy said he threw the money out of his car because he wanted to “bless others with gifts of money,” KUTV told police.
Dozens of bystanders stopped to grab the money, which was almost completely gone by 8 p.m. Oregon State Police Lt. Andrews said people “did a pretty good job of cleaning everything up,” according to KEZI 9.
Police said they warned McCarthy to stop throwing the money because it was dangerous for people to run on I-5 after dark, per KEZI 9. They said he followed the advice.
McCarthy was not ultimately charged with a crime or cited, but Andrews said officers considered it because of the danger it posed on the road, per KEZI 9.
But while several bystanders benefited from the stunt on Tuesday, his family said they were left penniless.
A relative of McCarthy told police he made the money by emptying his family’s shared bank accounts, but police said they are unlikely to get it back, KEZI 9 reported.
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“Because it’s shared, they both have equal interests in the money,” Andrews said, according to local media, meaning anyone with access to the account can take all the money and use it as they see fit.
The family said that while it’s unlikely to happen, they want people who found the money to return it to Oregon state police, according to KEZI 9.
The Oregon State Police did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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