Thieves Who Allegedly Swiped 2M Dimes Indicted

Feds say the men stole $235K in 10-cent coins off of a tractor-trailer from the US Mint
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 24, 2023 1:46 PM CDT
4 Indicted in Theft of 2M Dimes
Dime for your thieves?   (Getty Images Plus)

Federal authorities have released more details and unsealed charges in the theft of more than 2 million dimes earlier this year from a tractor-trailer that had picked up the coins from the US Mint in Philadelphia. The truck driver was bound for Miami when he pulled into a parking lot to sleep on April 13. During the night, thieves made off with a portion of its cargo of $750,000 in dimes, a shipment weighing about six tons, authorities had said earlier. Thousands of coins were left scattered all over the lot in northeast Philadelphia. Four Philadelphia men—25-year-old Rakiem Savage, 31-year-old Ronald Byrd, 30-year-old Haneef Palmer, and 32-year-old Malik Palmer—face charges that include conspiracy, robbery, and theft of government money, reports the AP.

Per the Philadelphia Inquirer, prosecutors contend that the theft—which they now say totaled $234,500 in stolen dimes—was part of a spree of robberies from tractor-trailers passing through the region that also netted the thieves frozen crab legs, shrimp, meat, beer, and liquor. Detectives said at the time that surveillance video showed six men, dressed in gray hoodies and armed with bolt cutters, approaching the truck in the middle of the night and breaking into it, then loading the coins into smaller bags and into a waiting truck. The indictment unsealed Friday alleges that after the theft, thousands of dimes were converted into cash at coin machines in Maryland or through deposits to at least four different suburban Philadelphia banks, the Inquirer reports.

(More strange stuff stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X