NEW YORK -- A man who scooped up $1.2 million that fell out of an armored car in Philadelphia last week was nabbed trying to leave the country, with $105,000 stuffed in his shoe, the FBI says. Police today recovered more of the stolen money and were seeking the rest.
Of the $1.2 million 'lost' out the back of a Purolator armored car Feb. 26, $105,000 was found on Joseph Coyle when he was arrested Wednesday, $230,000 was turned in by two of Coyle's friends and $400,000 was recovered from a weedy Philadelphia lot.
Acting on a tip from an informant, Philadelphia detectives today recovered $270,000 of the $1.2 million.
With the find today, a total of slightly over $1 million of the cash has been recovered, said Capt. James Demski.
Demski said the $270,000 was found in weeds behind Old Swede's Church in South Philadelphia near the site where the $400,000 had been stashed.
Acting on a tip from an informant, Philadelphia detectives today recovered another $270,000 of the $1.2 million, police Capt. James Demski said.
Demski said the $270,000 was found in weeds behind Old Swede's Church in South Philadelphia, near the site where the $400,000 had been stashed.
Three men, laughing, grabbed two canvas money bags when they fell out of a Purolator truck onto a South Philadelphia street last Thursday. Wednesday, less than a week later, two of the three men helped FBI agents and Philadelphia police crack the case.
Coyle, 28, of Philadelphia, was apprehended Wednesday morning as he was purchasing a ticket to Acapulco, Mexico, at an Eastern Airlines counter in Kennedy International Airport. Francis Santos, 27, who was with Coyle, was also arrested.
FBI agent Walter Yoos said the well-dressed Coyle was carrying $105,000 in cash stuffed in his boots, tied to his ankles and inside his socks.
The used bills, all of $100 denomination, matched the denomination of the bills that fell from the Purolator truck, Yoos said.
Coyle and Santos were both remanded after arraignment in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal jail, in lieu of $25,000 bail. The FBI said the government would seek to have both men extradited to Philadelphia.
Wednesday night, Philadelphia police said two of Coyle's friends, accompanied by their attorneys, turned over $230,000 of the Purolator cash. The men told police Coyle gave them the money for safekeeping.
Thomas DiBruno, 30, and Michael DiCriscio, 34, were questioned in connection with the case and released without charges being filed against them, Police Capt. Richard Kirchner said.
'They didn't want to get in any trouble, so they turned it (the money) over to the police,' he said.
Three informants, including two of the men in the car with Coyle when the $1.2 million fell out of the armored truck, also helped authorities.
Police said one of the informants directed them to the $400,000 hidden in the weeds on a vacant Philadelphia lot.
The three informants, who were not identified, were also not charged.
A maroon 1971 Chevrolet Malibu fitting the description of the car allegedly used in the theft was recovered this week in Gloucester, N.J., police said.
Coyle is charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution of a felony and Santos as an accessory to avoid prosecution. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 10 years in jail.
Both men were charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods.
Police said all of the recovered money had been returned to Purolator Armored Inc.
