Guy Who Turned in $15K He Found Gets to Keep It

A suburban Philadelphia transit worker who found $15,000 and turned it in to police has been given the cash. Bob Tracey was driving home from work last March when he spotted a black bag in the middle of the road. When he opened it, he saw dozens of $100 and $20 bills and immediately called police. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said some people claimed the money was theirs, but they had no proof, the AP reports. He said it was unlikely the real owners would come forward since the bag also contained drug paraphernalia, including a crack pipe.

Chitwood says Tracey, 62, should have been allowed to keep the money after the real owner failed to come forward within 90 days, but he ended up having to petition a court under a law dealing with finders of lost property. "The bureaucracy was a nightmare for the guy," Chitwood tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He had to jump through a lot of hoops for being honest. Most people would have taken the money and kept on going." (More Philadelphia stories.)