Police are investigating the theft of an estimated $200,000 in dimes stolen from a trailer that was parked overnight Wednesday outside of a Walmart in Northeast Philadelphia.
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Officers responded to the parking lot along Byberry Road, near the Philadelphia Mills mall, on Thursday to find thousands of dimes scattered across the pavement, police said. The truck contained about $750,000 in dimes.
The truck had been left in the lot by a driver who picked up a shipment of the coins from the U.S. Mint on Wednesday, police said. The driver parked the vehicle and locked it in order to get some sleep before continuing on to his destination. When the driver returned Thursday morning, he found that the trailer had been pried open, police said.
Investigators told 6ABC that bolt cutters had been used to break into the big rig. An estimated $200,000 in dimes were stolen — the equivalent of two million coins. That was up from an earlier estimate of $100,000 on Thursday afternoon.
While making a getaway, the suspect left piles of change in the Walmart parking lot.
Police said there are cameras in the parking lot and that authorities are working to identify those responsible for the theft. It's still unclear whether one or several people were involved.