The Man who TOOK the Money and Later Turned it in Gets Reward!!

[karenpe]

For those who hadn't heard about this...Three 42 pound packages filled with 10's and 20's totalling over $600,000.00 fell out of the truck it was being hauled in!! An unknown passerby picked up all 3 packages and turned it in two days later!! The man was described as wearing a business suit. It was stated in the paper that they had a description (didn't say how good of a description) and that the money could be traced!!

Two days later the man calls and more or less asks how much trouble would he be in returning the cash and how to go about returning it. It turns out he is a security guard. Well anyway, he returns the money (packages are unopened) and does NOT get charged for anything!! So I am thinking "Man, this guy is lucky"!! He takes the money, keeps it for 2 days and doesn't get in any trouble!! WOW!!

Now I find out that they are going to give him the reward on top of everything else!! I'm not sure how much it is. I've heard anywhere between $50,000.00 and $75,000.00. It seems like everyone I have talked to today says he should get the reward!! NOT ME!! NO WAY!!

Now I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, and that's OK!! Everyone has their own opinion and that's why I'm posting this. I'd like to hear them!! I have calmly discussed this with co-workers, I gave my opinion, and they gave theirs. Simple as that!!

This is my opinion...
Now I feel why should this man get any kind of reward when it's obvious he would have kept the money if he could have gotten away with it!! In the first place, the right thing to do was to turn the money in as soon as it fell out of the truck not rush out and pick it up and stash it in your vehicle. Then of course when you see on the news that they have a description and that you can't spend the money because it can (supposedly) be traced, well, now what are you going to do????

Why, turn it in and beg for mercy, of course!! One thing I don't understand is why he didn't just leave it somewhere and call and tell them where it was?? I did hear the first time he called about the money, he did it anonymously, so maybe he heard enough to figure out that they wouldn't charge him if he just returned the money and thought, well maybe there's a chance of getting that reward as an added bonus!!

Now what really IRKS me is if he would have turned it in right away, would he have gotten a reward that high??? I'm thinking maybe $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 but not up to $75,000.00. The fact that he grabbed the money and took it to his vehicle and hid it tells you he planned on keeping it!!

Now does this mean that if I was ever lucky enough to run across packages of money in a similar way, that I could hold on to it for two days while I waited to see if they knew who I was and if the money is marked before I decided if I wanted to take the chance of keeping it or not??? And would I also not be charged and also get the big reward and think that I deserved it??? I THINK NOT!!

BTW...This has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the fact that he is a black man. I just found that out last night and my mind was already made up, be the person black, white, oriental, whatever!! The fact is he would have never stashed the money if he had planned on turning it in!!!

[CJWest]

IMHO-

If he had left it where it was, someone else would have picked it up. I think that anyone who found that much money would probably have to deal with the temptation of keeping it, thus not turning it in immediately. You said that he called and asked how much trouble would he be in for turning it in, not how much he would be in for keeping it. It sounds like he picked it up, maybe thought about keeping it, and decided to turn it back in, but was afraid they would arrest him for having it. Maybe he was thinking of possible reward and maybe not, but even if they warned on the news that the money was traceable, there is a statute of limitations on theft. He could have just hid the money somewhere for however many years, and at the end of the statute, he'd be a lot richer than he is now. His motivations to act in the ways that he did over the two days may not have been totally honorable all of the time, but the fact is that he did the right thing, no matter how long it took him to do it.

Crystal

[pigsurf7]

This is a story that happened in my hometown of Cleveland. The fact of the matter is that in this day and age, we are too quick to judge someone we do not know. You have no idea whether this man intended to return this money right away or not. I think he should be given the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, it wasn't like the conditions of the reward stated you had to return this money within a certain time frame. I think this man found the money, returned it, and complied with the conditions of getting the reward.

I agree with pigsurf7.He should be given the benefit of the doubt. I also live in Cleveland where this happened. Sometimes the media makes the good guy out to be the bad guy.