Federal authorities have revealed additional details and unsealed charges related to the theft of over 2 million dimes earlier this year from a tractor-trailer that had collected the coins from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
The truck driver was en route to Miami when, on April 13, he pulled into a parking lot to rest. During the night, thieves absconded with a portion of the cargo, which amounted to $750,000 in dimes, weighing approximately six tons, as authorities previously reported.
The parking lot in northeast Philadelphia was left strewn with thousands of coins. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, prosecutors now allege that the theft, which they estimate to be $234,500 in stolen dimes, was part of a series of robberies involving tractor-trailers passing through the region. These thefts also included frozen crab legs, shrimp, meat, beer, and liquor.
Detectives revealed at the time that surveillance footage captured six individuals, dressed in gray hoodies and armed with bolt cutters, approaching the truck during the night. They broke into it and transferred the coins into smaller bags before loading them into a waiting truck.
The recently unsealed indictment claims that following the theft, thousands of dimes were converted into cash using coin machines in Maryland or deposited into at least four different suburban Philadelphia banks.
Four individuals from Philadelphia—Rakiem Savage, aged 25; Ronald Byrd, aged 31; Haneef Palmer, aged 30; and Malik Palmer, aged 32—face charges including conspiracy, robbery, theft of government funds, and other related offenses.
