New Jersey Turnpike spokesman called it a "twisted Atlantic City fantasy."

 

An armored truck carrying $2 million in cash flipped over on the turnpike near Exit 12 in Linden during the evening rush last night, spilling tens of thousands of dollars in coins, said the spokesman, Joe Orlando.

 

It was not known what caused the truck, owned by the Coin Depot Corporation of Elizabeth, N.J., to flip over at 7:05 p.m. as it headed north. But the effects were unmistakable. The turnpike was closed from Exits 8A to 12 for more than five hours as state troopers and turnpike maintenance workers used brooms to shovel quarters, dimes and nickels into plastic buckets. The turnpike is expected to be reopened this morning.

 

"We're in the toll business, but nobody's ever seen this much coinage on the road in their life," said Mr. Orlando, who was at the scene. "They were down on their hands and knees, in the grass 100 feet away. It was just covered in change."

 

Extra state troopers were called to keep passing drivers from reaching for the change. "I tell you, nobody was getting money in their pockets," Mr. Orlando said.

 

When it flipped over, the truck broke through a median that separates cars from trucks. The driver suffered minor injuries and was taken to Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth, the state police said. No other vehicles were hit during the accident.

 

There were also bags of paper money in the back of the truck, Mr. Orlando said, but none of them spilled on the road.

 

"I'm standing there watching troopers throwing hundreds of thousands in the back of state police cars," Mr. Orlando said, unable to stifle a laugh. "There were a lot of people who found themselves doing things they never thought they would do. You can prepare for a lot of things, but this is not one of them."

 

Over the years, some unusual things have spilled on the turnpike, he said. There have been reports of frozen crabs and chickens. Then there were the live turkeys. There have even been escaped horses running up the highway, he said.

 

"But $2 million? Never in my lifetime," he said.

 

After the mess was cleared, street sweepers would comb the stretch of the highway where the crash occurred, vacuuming any remaining coins, Mr. Orlando said. Workers from the armored truck company would then follow it to the maintenance headquarters to reclaim the recovered change.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/05/nyregion...?oref=login&8dt

Damn, why doesn't that ever happen when I'm around?

when your around?

It happened in Miami maybe 10-15 years ago along I95

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I remember that, but was it that long ago? I remember something like that more recently. Maybe more like 5 years.