4 facing federal charges for stealing 2 million dimes from truck in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Four people are facing federal charges for allegedly stealing two million dimes from a semi parked in Northeast Philadelphia. They were picked up from the U.S. Mint Philadelphia Facility and were bound for Miami when the driver pulled into a parking lot to sleep on April 13.
Authorities had said a trailer containing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of dimes was broken into overnight inside a Walmart parking lot in the 4300 block of Byberry Road in Northeast Philadelphia.
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.
The indictment unsealed Friday alleges said the alleged thieves tried to convert the coins to cash in Maryland and also tried to deposit the dimes in at least four suburban Philadelphia banks.
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 conspiracy, robbery, theft of government money and other charges.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 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.
Messages seeking comment on the charges were sent Monday to attorneys for Savage and Malik Palmer; court documents don't list attorneys for Byrd and Haneef Palmer, and a message could not be left at a number listed for the latter.
