• NY woman who guarded flying cash gets her reward

    A woman in New York returned $11,000 in coins and bills that flew her way off an armored truck on a bumpy highway. Mark Mulholland of NBC station WNYT reports.

    By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

    The New York woman who guarded $11,000 in cash that flew out the back of an armored truck this week will get a $2,500 reward.


    Patricia Wesner, executive director of the Pember Library and Museum in Granville, N.Y., called police, got out of her car and stayed with the money Tuesday rather than pocket any of it for her struggling nonprofit. "It's stealing if you take something that's not yours," she said. "It didn't belong to me."

    NBC station WNYT of Albany reported Thursday that Brinks Inc., the company that operated the truck, sent long-stem roses to Wesner's home Wednesday. And now, the company is rewarding her with $2,500 for her honesty.

    "A couple car repairs might be nice, and my daughter is flying to New York on Friday," she said. "It's both our birthdays, and we'll probably do something fun in New York."

    You can read the full story of Wesner's honesty here.

    Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

    Watch the top videos on NBCNews.com

  • Armored truck dispenses 11 grand; good Samaritan stands guard until police arrive

    A woman in New York returns $11,000 in coins and bills that flew her way off the armored truck on a bumpy highway. Mark Mulholland of NBC station WNYT of Albany reports.

    By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

    You've probably had the dream: You're behind an armored truck on the highway, and it starts spewing out money.


    That happened Tuesday to Patricia Wesner, executive director of the Pember Library and Museum in Granville, N.Y.

    But unlike you in your fantasy, Wesner did the right thing, NBC station WNYT of Albany, N.Y., reported.

    Wesner said that as the Brinks armored truck passed her on a bumpy stretch of Route 22 near Salem, she thought to herself, "Wouldn't it be great if money started pouring out?"

    Then it did.

    And rather than grab up the cash — $11,000 in all — Wesner got out of her Toyota Sequoia, called police and guarded the money until they arrived.

    "I never even thought that I would put anything in my pocket," she said.

    Police caught up with the truck and let the crew know they were driving a mobile ATM. Investigators said the truck's door probably malfunctioned.

    In all, police counted 70 bags of $1 bills, six boxes of quarters, two boxes of dimes, two boxes of nickels and 12 boxes of pennies. Wesner, meanwhile, drove off to get lunch, she told WNYT — and didn't have enough cash on her to pay for it.

    That's not the only reason Wesner could have used the money. For almost 22 years, she's been head of the nonprofit Pember Museum, which she told WNYT has always had to scrimp.

    But "it's stealing if you take something that's not yours," she said. "It didn't belong to me."

    There's no word yet on whether Wesner will get a reward. But the philanthropically minded can donate to her museum here.

    Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

  • Trucker on passer-by who saved him from burning rig: 'She was an angel to me'

    View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

    By Scott Gordon, NBCDFW.com

    A Parker County, Texas, father says he can't say "thank you" enough to a stranger who rescued him from his burning 18-wheeler after he crashed in Dallas on Wednesday morning.

    "She was an angel to me," Elias Uribe said. "She's my hero."


    Uribe lost control of his semi-trailer on a rain-slickened Interstate 30 near downtown. The truck burst into flames. His door was jammed shut. He remembers the fire just inches from his elbow.

    "Probably 30 seconds more, and I would have caught on fire," he said.

    As the flames neared, a stranger showed up from nowhere, he said.

    "And then in the distance I could hear a woman screaming, 'Can you get out? Are you OK? Can you get out? It's burning,'" he said.

    The voice belonged to Terry Sims, who happened to be driving by on her way to work.

    "I came around, and I saw flames coming from underneath the trailer, so I pulled him out of the truck," she said soon after it happened.

    Sims said she was concerned for her own safety but ran up to the burning truck anyway.

    "He was in the truck, and the door wouldn't open," she said. "We had to pull him out the window. I was just so scared it was going to blow."

    Sims then led Uribe to safety.

    "I could barely walk, but I leaned on her, and she pulled me all the way," he said.

    Within minutes, the cab was engulfed in flames.

    Related: Video: Homeless man, Samaritan foil mugging, save businessman

    Uribe said Sims single-handedly saved his life -- "no doubt."

    His three children -- Eliazar, 8, Elizabeth, 10, and Elias Jr., 12 -- would have been left without parents.

    "I don't know if they understand, but I tell them I made it," Uribe said. "That's all that matters."

    His longtime wife, Dolores, was killed in May in a car crash near their Parker County home. It makes what Sims did all the more special.

    "I'd like to thank her very much," Uribe said, choking back tears. "I don't have words to say."

    After all this, Uribe said he's going to take a break from driving professionally and "take some time with my kids and be with them."

    "More than ever, you don't know how fragile life is," he said.