Man throws $200,000 in cash out his car window after draining family's shared accounts
His family is urging anyone who found the cash to hand it back to police
A man in Oregon was pulled over by police after he was spotted throwing hundred dollar bills onto a busy highway from his car window.
Colin Davis McCarthy, 38, was spotted throwing piles of cash from his vehicle as he travelled down the busy Interstate 5 about 120 miles south of Portland.
Oregon State Police said they received multiple calls from members of the public who had seen the stunt, which was - perhaps understandably - causing quite a stir on the busy highway.
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The flurry of ‘floating’ notes, some of which were $100 bills, prompted several motorists to stop their vehicles and jump out to scoop up some of the cash.
Oregon State Police say McCarthy told them he wanted to ‘bless others with gifts of money’ and claimed that he’d thrown around $200,000 away in total.
Officers asked McCarthy to stop throwing the bills ‘because it was causing a significant traffic hazard’, which he agreed to.
Police say no criminal charges have been brought against McCarthy, but Oregon State Police Lieutenant Jim Andrews added: "He could have been charged in a situation like this for danger being created because of his actions - disorderly conduct, potentially reckless endangering, but most likely disorderly conduct.
"I know the troopers considered charging him with that or arresting him, but after a conversation with him they elected not to."
Officers also said other road users had done a very solid clean up job when it came to the loose bills.
“Motorists did a thorough job of gathering the loose money as troopers were unable to locate any further currency after the incident,” police said in a press release.
“Troopers followed up the next morning and were still unable to locate further bills along the roadway.”
One woman who found some of the cash, told KEZI: “It’s hundred-dollar bills floating around and I'm like, ‘what!?’ So my boyfriend and I decided to go one way, he goes the other way and so far I've found 300 dollars!"
Although some folks happened to be in the right place at the right time, cops have urged locals to avoid going out on the hunt for any of the money, warning: “These searches create a hazardous condition and put both the searchers and motorists at risk.”
A relative of McCarthy later spoke to police and said the cash had come from ‘draining’ their bank accounts, leaving them ‘penniless’.
Through the police, the family urged anyone who had found any of the notes to return them to Oregon State Police.
Claire Reid