Dunwoody police are asking motorists who pulled over on Interstate 285 Tuesday to collect around $175,000 in cash that had flown out of an armored truck to return the money or risk prosecution.
Both the police and a local criminal defense lawyer cite O.C.G.A 16-8-6, which states, “A person commits the offense of theft of lost or mislaid property when he comes into control of property that he knows or learns to have been lost or mislaid and appropriates the property to his own use without first taking reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner.”
B.J. Bernstein, an Atlanta criminal defense lawyer, noted that the 2002 Georgia Court of Appeals decision of Shannon v. State, 258 Ga. App. 689, indicates that the finder of lost property must first try to find the owner.
That said, she added, “Not everyone is watching the news and reading the paper,” so simply arresting anyone seen in social media videos of the incident may not be right. ”If they don’t watch media how would they know to be able to return it?”
Dunwoody Police Sgt. Robert Parsons said Wednesday that people who “do the right thing” and return money found on the highway near Ashford-Dunwoody Road will not be prosecuted. Around 12:30 p.m., he said two people had returned about $2,600 so far. Parsons said the estimated $175,000 loss was in denominations ranging from $1 bills to $100 bills.
He said everyone understands the temptation to pick up the cash, but if police have to watch the videos, identify motorists and go find them, they may be prosecuted by the DeKalb County district attorney or solicitor, depending on how much was taken.
“Reality needs to set in,” he added. The Dunwoody Police Department is at 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338.
Photos posted by Dunwoody police on Facebook showed a GardaWorld armored truck on the side of the road. A message sent to GardaWorld’s media representative was not immediately returned Wednesday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the company issued a statement saying only “it was working with local authorities and investigating the incident internally.”
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