An undisclosed amount of cash was found on the side of U.S. Highway 80 East Monday night by Selma police officers after a brief car chase, which is believed to be drug-related.

Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier said the chase started inside the police jurisdiction after a routine stop by one of the department’s K-9 officers for a traffic violation.

“The K-9 unit made the stop and got the driver out. Everything initially seemed normal,” Collier said.

A second officer pulled up, which sparked the chase.

“A second vehicle, which was one of our narcotics agents pulled up, and at that point the driver, who was out of the car, fled on foot back to his vehicle, got in his vehicle and sped off,” Collier said.

“The guy wasn’t necessarily nervous. [The officer] spoke with him, and a second officer got out in plain clothes. When the subject spotted that officer, he ran.”

Collier said the chase, which was on U.S. Highway 80 East, was brief and only lasted a few miles.

“After a while, speeds got too high, and the sergeant made the right decision and terminated the chase,” Collier said. “A short time later, we recovered some cash along the side of the road.”

Witnesses who drove by said they saw multiple heavily armed officers on the scene. One lane of traffic on each side of the highway was closed off while officers searched the median.

At this time, Collier said the department is releasing limited details on the exact amount of money recovered, but he did say it was a significant amount of money.

Collier said officers did not see the driver toss the cash out, but they have reason to believe it came from the vehicle that was being chased.

“We can’t be sure the cash came out of the vehicle,” he said. “No one saw it, but we can make the assumption and the assumption that it’s narcotics related.”

Collier said the money can be claimed, but it will require proof.

“If anyone comes forward in an attempt to claim it, we’re going to require two things,” Collier said.

“We’re going to require a receipt on the amount, and it was a high enough amount it is going to require a proof of notification to the Internal Revenue Service. We will need both of those things if someone comes forward and claims the cash.”

No arrest has been made, but the driver could be facing at least an attempting to elude a law enforcement officer charge.