Man’s Honesty Pays Off When He Gets To Keep $15K He Found In The Street A Year Ago

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As the old saying goes, crime doesn’t pay. But in some cases, being honest — and patient — can certainly reap financial rewards, as one man now gets to keep $15,200 he turned in after finding it on the street.

More than a year ago, the Pennsylvania man was on his way home from work close to midnight on a state road when he spotted a package in the middle of the street, reports the Delaware County Daily Times.

He turned around to check it out and found what appeared to be a banker’s bag filled with stacks of cash, along with some drug paraphernalia.

He called the police and handed the cash over to the officer who arrived on the scene, and the cops have had the money ever since.

He filed a civil suit in September to retain ownership of the cash, claiming in his petition that a few days after he turned in the money, he was told it’d be turned over to him in 90 days if the owner didn’t claim it.

“As such, because plaintiff found the money, he can claim superior title to the money over the police department,” the petition read.

Although a common pleas court judge ordered the money returned to him in December when the owner didn’t materialize, that order was vacated a week later. His persistence paid off this week when another judge for the court ordered the Upper Darby Police Department to return the money to him.

The department’s superintendent said it took too long to reunite the man with his monetary find.

“He should have had that money a month afterward,” he told the Times. “He was an honest man, he could have driven off with it … I don’t have a problem with him having the money. No one claimed the money, or it has not been requested.”

Along with that hefty chunk of change, this honest fella has now earned the status of, “You’re Not A Horrible Person,” along with the following subjects of previous Consumerist stories:

• A Wells Fargo customer in Pennsylvania who turned in $400 that unexpectedly shot out at her from a drive-thru ATM.

• The Domino’s customer who got free pizza for a year for returning $5,000 she found in her chicken wings box.

The woman who found $1,000 at a bank drive-thru and didn’t give into temptation.

The person who turned in a lost diamond ring at Newark Airport

The homeless guy who turned in a backpack containing $42K.

The California man who found $6,900 at the DMV and returned it to the rightful owner.

The Taco Bell customers who returned the to-go bag that was filled with $3,600 in cash that didn’t belong to them.

And one of the two men who found $1,000 outside a Schnucks store in Missouri.

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