Paint Chips In The Van

Over one weekend night, more than three million dollars disappeared from the vaults of an armored-car company in a large Midwestern city, which held cash for banks and businesses in containers kept separate for each institution. Prosecutors alleged that a man helped plan the theft. An accomplice who had pleaded guilty testified about the planning. An undercover agent and an informant watched the man driving a van, always wearing gloves; he had helped pay for the van, and an expert said paint chips found in it matched the company's money containers. Soon after the theft he travelled to a Caribbean island with a co-defendant and was carrying $9,300 in cash when he was picked up there. The defence attacked the accomplice's credibility, saying he was testifying to avoid prison, and argued the evidence from the island was illegally seized.