Latest news with #CalebCaviness
Metro
01-05-2025
- Metro
Lorry spills 8,000,000 coins onto highway causing painstaking 14-hour pickup
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video About eight million dimes totaling $800,000 spilled from a lorry onto a highway and caused a 14-hour pickup and cleanup effort. An 18-wheeler flipped on Highway 287 near Alvord High School and scattered the loose coins around 5.30am on Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The truck rolled on its side after the driver veered off the highway and overcorrected, the department stated. The driver and a passenger were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and have been released. It was not immediately known why the lorry was carrying so many dimes. Video recorded by FOX 4's SKY 4 showed a worker sitting on the side of the road picking dimes off the ground. Four other workers, three wearing high visibility clothing, swept the roadway using brooms and shovels. Other workers used a vacuum truck to suck coins from dirt and greenery along the highway. United States Armored Company workers assisted in the cleanup operation. The inside of the lorry appeared mostly empty, except for some lingering coins. 'The funniest part to me was that they picked up the dimes using the vacuum trucks that are used to suck out sewage and water and stuff like that,' Alvord Mayor Caleb Caviness told The New York Times. It was not until around 7.30pm that the highway reopened. By Wednesday afternoon, most of the dimes were likely collected and the rest of them were washed away by rain that amounted to four inches and caused minor flooding in town, said Caviness. The mayor said the rumor in town was that $8million in dimes had dropped, and that flashing lights from their reflection were visible. More Trending 'We were joking around that the city of Alvord would be metal detecting,' said Caviness, but added that a herd of people did not actually go out there. Where the lorry was heading was not clear. Alvord is about 75 miles northwest of Dallas. It happened more than two-and-a-half years after a lorry overturned and spilled more than 150,000 tomatoes onto Interstate 80 in Vacaville, California. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Bride's pain after husband killed himself then sent flowers from beyond grave MORE: Everything we know about the US and Ukraine minerals deal MORE: High school lacrosse players 'abducted at gunpoint as part of hazing prank'
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- The Guardian
Coin flip: 8m freshly minted dimes spilled on US highway after truck crash
An avalanche of 8m freshly minted dimes spilled from an overturned truck and closed a Texas highway for almost 14 hours. Witnesses described a sea of silver on US Route 287 in Alvord, 50 miles north of Fort Worth. Clean-up crews attempted to suck up the coins, worth $800,000, using vacuums more commonly used to unclog sewers and drains. Officials said the truck involved in the accident was an 18-wheeler from the Colorado-based Western Distributing Transportation Corporation, whose operations feature a fleet of armored vehicles that ferry currency and other valuable cargo for clients including the US government. The origin of the cash discharged in Tuesday morning's rollover is not known. Both the US treasury department and Western Distributing did not return calls for comment. Public safety officials in Wise county said the two occupants of the truck, believed to be the driver and an armed guard from Western's US Armored Company Services (USAC) subsidiary, were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. No other vehicle was involved. Footage taken by CBS News Texas showed uniformed USAC employees sifting through dirt, gravel and plants at the side of the roadside to recover some of the coins, while others were collected with shovels and buckets. The bulk of the money, according to Alvord's mayor, Caleb Caviness, was retrieved with heavy machinery. 'The funniest part to me was that they picked up the dimes using the vacuum trucks that are used to suck out sewage and water and stuff like that,' he told the New York Times. 'We were joking around that the city of Alvord would be metal detecting.' The Wise County Messenger reported that two southbound lanes of US 287 were closed after the accident shortly after 5.30am, and remained inaccessible until the evening, causing miles-long lines of traffic. Texas department of safety troopers kept some curious spectators from the scene, although the Times reported than an expected horde of speculators, fired up by rumors circulating in Alvord that the coin spillage was $8m instead of $800,000, 'never showed up'. According to Western Distribution's website, USAC has more than 40 armored units equipped to safeguard cargo in transit. 'We move cargo for all divisions of the government and were awarded [contracts] to move several of the government's banks over the years,' wording on its website states. 'If it must be secure in transit, any amount, anywhere, USAC can make it happen! We would tell you more about what we can do, but it's confidential!'
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Coin flip: 8m freshly minted dimes spilled on US highway after truck crash
An avalanche of 8m freshly minted dimes spilled from an overturned truck and closed a Texas highway for almost 14 hours. Witnesses described a sea of silver on US Route 287 in Alvord, 50 miles north of Fort Worth. Clean-up crews attempted to suck up the coins, worth $800,000, using vacuums more commonly used to unclog sewers and drains. Officials said the truck involved in the accident was an 18-wheeler from the Colorado-based Western Distributing Transportation Corporation, whose operations feature a fleet of armored vehicles that ferry currency and other valuable cargo for clients including the US government. The origin of the cash discharged in Tuesday morning's rollover is not known. Both the US treasury department and Western Distributing did not return calls for comment. Public safety officials in Wise county said the two occupants of the truck, believed to be the driver and an armed guard from Western's US Armored Company Services (USAC) subsidiary, were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. No other vehicle was involved. Footage taken by CBS News Texas showed uniformed USAC employees sifting through dirt, gravel and plants at the side of the roadside to recover some of the coins, while others were collected with shovels and buckets. The bulk of the money, according to Alvord's mayor, Caleb Caviness, was retrieved with heavy machinery. 'The funniest part to me was that they picked up the dimes using the vacuum trucks that are used to suck out sewage and water and stuff like that,' he told the New York Times. 'We were joking around that the city of Alvord would be metal detecting.' The Wise County Messenger reported that two southbound lanes of US 287 were closed after the accident shortly after 5.30am, and remained inaccessible until the evening, causing miles-long lines of traffic. Texas department of safety troopers kept some curious spectators from the scene, although the Times reported than an expected horde of speculators, fired up by rumors circulating in Alvord that the coin spillage was $8m instead of $800,000, 'never showed up'. According to Western Distribution's website, USAC has more than 40 armored units equipped to safeguard cargo in transit. 'We move cargo for all divisions of the government and were awarded [contracts] to move several of the government's banks over the years,' wording on its website states. 'If it must be secure in transit, any amount, anywhere, USAC can make it happen! We would tell you more about what we can do, but it's confidential!'
