Man tosses cash around Mall of America, police issue citation
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Bloomington police cited a 29-year-old man for disorderly conduct for tossing 1,000 dollar bills over an upper floor railing at the Mall of America.
Serge Vorobyov, of Apple Valley, admitted throwing the money as a choir performed “Let it Snow” on Friday. He was cited and released at the scene. Vorobyov said he also was ordered not to go into the mall for a year.
He said he’s going through a divorce and lost his car hauling business and hoped the positivity of throwing the money would come back to him. He argues he was just spreading holiday cheer.
“I wanted to do some sort of pay it forward kind of thing,” he said Sunday.
He invited his estranged wife to try to win her back but she didn’t show up, he said.
Vorobyov said he started tossing his “last $1,000” from the fourth floor and continued while going down the escalator.
He had stamped the bills with his YouTube address and on his Facebook page he called the event a publicity stunt. When asked why he wanted the publicity, he said he wanted his cat back from his estranged wife.
Mall of America spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said it’s the first time anyone has ever done something like that in the mall. She said Vorobyov disrupted the performance and could’ve caused a serious situation.