The @HiddenCash craze spread to Hollywood and the Eastside on June 1 with two cash drops in Los Angeles parks before the stunt moved on to Bakersfield.
The final clue was tweeted at 3:18 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, and sent people to Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights in search of nine stashes of cash.
A Los Angeles Police Dept. (LAPD) intelligence unit that monitors social media alerted the Hollenbeck station, and they had officers there in seven minutes, Sgt. Michael Morisseau told the press.
There were already well over 100 people there, he said, adding that the crowd was well behaved and while traffic was heavy, it remained orderly and no incidents were reported.
The morning drop saw people rush to Lake Hollywood Park, a dog park in the Los Feliz District in the 11 o’clock hour, where loot was stashed in nine plastic bottles that had carried soap for bubble making.
The cash amounts have ranged from tens to hundreds of dollars and those lucky enough to find a stash tweeted photos of themselves smiling with cash in hand. Others tweeted messages saying they didn’t find anything but had fun anyway. One man whose Twitter account bore a vulgar name and grizzled self portrait posted a message thanking @HiddenCash for getting him to go outside on what was a beautiful day in L.A.
The day’s first clue, posted at 9:53 a.m., showed a bottle with the caption “LA: Are you ready to play with bubbles today?” A second clue, posted about an hour later, showed the Hollywood sign and contained the message: “Hiddencash playing tourist. There are 9 bubbles by the K9s (near here!).”
At 2:50 p.m., @HiddenCash tweeted that the final drop in the L.A. area was in a park, with a great view of downtown.
People rushed to Grand Park in the Civic Center, but perhaps that was too obvious. At 3:20 p.m., the game master gave it away: Hollenbeck Park, just east of the Golden State (5) Freeway and with a view of the L.A. skyline.
Earlier this weekend, @HiddenCash had stuffed hundreds of dollars into some plastic Angry Birds figurines overnight Friday night, and tweeted the location late Saturday morning: south of the Hermosa Beach Pier.
The benefactor stashed cash in various parts of Southern California Thursday and Friday, but indicated today was the last drop in the L.A. area.
The self-identified wealthy real estate developer started the Hidden Cash craze last month in the San Francisco area.
Pasadena, Glendale and East Los Angeles were among the other Southland stops over the weekend.
Just after 4 p.m., @HiddenCash began issuing clues alerting residents of Bakersfield that their chance to cash in on the craze was at hand.
Angelenos who missed out need not be too upset, however, as @HiddenCash has promised to make a return visit.
