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Mahwah Police: Man Snatches Bag With $141K Accidentally Left Behind By ATM Worker

MAHWAH, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police in New Jersey are looking for a man who took a bag containing $141,000 accidentally left behind by an employee of an ATM company.

Surveillance video shows the costly mistake made Monday by the employees of ATMForUs.com in Mahwah, CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported. It shows a worker leaving his office at 31 Industrial Ave. on his way to replenish ATMs. He was carrying the large sum of cash in a small, unmarked bag, police said. The video shows him setting down the satchel, walking around to the back of the car and then getting in and taking off without the bag, which was filled with $10 and $20 bills.

"At some point, the person who was supposed to have the bag realized that it wasn't in the car with him, but at that point, he was seven miles away so he called back to the office to see if it was still at the curbside where he had left it," said Mahwah police Officer William Hunt.

The video then shows the passenger of a white GMC Savana work van picking up the bag full of money up and driving away. Surveillance video shows that the van was picking up discarded tires from another nearby business just minutes before, police said.

"It was really just a stroke of luck, or misfortune, for them that this van happened to be driving by shortly after the money was left at the curb," Hunt said.

Police say once the worker who left the money behind returned back to the building and realized what had happened, they needed to call an ambulance for him.

"I'm shocked, I'm really shocked. I'm shocked that it could happen in the first place, and that someone could be so stupid to take it without thinking they're going to get caught," Judy Rucca said.

Police are hoping whoever took the bag will return it.

"Anytime you find property that's discarded on the side of the road, it's not just fair game for you to pick it up and say, 'Well, you left it, I found it,'" Hunt said.

Cops believe they are looking for a 1999 GMC Savana work van with a glass panel and sliding door.

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