Crime
$200K worth of dimes stolen from truck parked at Philadelphia Walmart
According to the U.S. Mint, a dime weighs 2.268 grams, meaning that the thieves took off with 5,000 pounds of dimes
April 14, 2023 8:53am
Updated: April 14, 2023 8:53am
A truck carrying two million dimes worth thousands of dollars was robbed outside of a Walmart in Philadelphia on Thursday, police said.
Police found the truck at around 6 a.m. outside of a Walmart on the 4300 block of Byberry Road in Northeast Philadelphia, with its doors opened and thousands of dimes scattered across the parking lot.
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— READY ALERTS (@ReadyAlerts) April 14, 2023
A truck carrying $750,000 in dimes was robbed earlier today in a Walmart parking lot in Philadelphia, PA.
Investigators believe that roughly $100,000 worth of dimes was taken, meaning the thieves made away with about 5,000 pounds of coins. #Philadelphia… pic.twitter.com/UD7ul0cyTB
The truck was transporting about $750,000 worth of dimes—about $200,000 of them were stolen in the incident. According to the U.S. Mint, a dime weighs 2.268 grams, meaning that the thieves took off with 5,000 pounds of dimes.
The truck driver picked up the dimes from the Philadelphia Mint to take to Florida on Wednesday. However, he decided to leave the truck at the parking lot and return home to sleep before his long drive—a common practice among truck drivers, according to Philadelphia Police Capt. Jack Ryan.
"This is common practice - to pick up a load going to Florida and go home for the night, get to sleep, and get on the road in the morning," said Ryan.
When the driver returned to the parking lot on Thursday morning, he realized that the truck had been broken into.
“They were trying to cross-load the dimes into other things. There are dimes all over the parking lot,” Ryan said.
Police are investigating the incident and reviewing security cameras to try to identify a suspect. It is unclear if the suspect, or suspects, knew what was onboard the truck when they opened its doors.
According to police, cargo thefts have been prominent in Northeast and South Philadelphia. "We've had lamb, chicken, TVs refrigerators, etc... alcohol," said Ryan.