One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Slings and Arrows: Suicidal Man Rains Cash on 210 Freeway
Photo by aresauburn™ via Flickr
Forget "Cash for Clunkers"--a 56-year-old man skipped the middlemen and gave his cash to commuters yesterday afternoon when he "tossed money from his car on Interstate 210 in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendora shortly before noon Sunday," according to Yahoo! News.Not to miss out on this outrageous fortune* about ten people ran out into the lanes to scoop up the cash, and the whole debacle caused a traffic jam on the freeway. The California Highway Patrol recovered about a grand of the loot and are asking that anyone who picked some of the bills up return it to them so it can be given back to the man who tossed it away.
So why did he do that? His reasons aren't clear, but following the incident he took himself to the Azusa Police and informed the officers present that he was suicidal; he was then placed on a legally-mandated 5150 hold for evaluation.
*Reference to 1987's Outrageous Fortune, which in turn is a reference to Hamlet, dontchaknow.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
