Lost or Stollen?

[Ciao Mickey]

If you dropped something (wallet) without knowing it, and someone picks it up, knowing it belongs to you, but decides to keep it anyway, have you lost the item or did that someone steal it from you? Legally speaking?

 

[Disney Doll]

Technically I would say the item was lost, but it's pretty crappy to find something, know who it belongs to and not return it.

 

[Pomlover2586]

Legally speaking it is lost- the person did not intentionally take it from you, or your home etc. However Morally, I think thats just as bad as stealing....If you don't know who it belongs to then finders keepers in my book [within reason].....but to know who it belongs to and not try to return it is just wrong wrong wrong. JMHO

 

[brockash]

You lost it, but the person that picked it up, stole it. Legally speaking, because you dropped it, you initially "lost" it. No one came and took it (stole) it from you. Once the person found the wallet and because they knew who it belonged to, but didn't return it, it's stealing, however it'd be a hard case to take to court and a jury.

 

[MushyMushy]

I think you lost it. Since the person who "found" it knew it was yours, he stole it. If the person didn't know it belonged to you, I would have said they found it, even though keeping it would be the wrong thing to do.

 

[bumbershoot]

It was lost and now it has been stolen.

It's what happened to us, when one of us misplaced DS's brand new build your own lightsaber at Disneyland. He was only 4, and the thing was taller than he was. I had misgivings about getting it but it's *right here* as you exit Star Tours...so he and hubby made one, and it doesn't retract all the way and there's no handy belt loop...

And 2 days later, he was carrying it, he had it in pictures at Princess Fantasy Faire...then we stopped at the benches on the way into ToonTown (a minute away), reorganized, and then as DS was in line to see Goofy, we realized the saber was gone (probably 5 minutes had gone by). None of us remembers what happened with the saber...we don't know if DS set it down and left it, or if he handed it to us b/c it was so heavy (as had happened several times already) and then the adult he handed it to set it down...we have NO memory whatsoever of that lightsaber after PFF...

But it was gone. And it was never turned into lost and found, though a *different* build your own was turned into Star Tours and was sitting near the CM waiting for the rightful owner to get it...

So we lost it, and then someone stole it. Somewhere out there, a child, teen, or adult has a lightsaber they did not pay for, and was not theirs...and they stole it.

 

[Angelhalo]

I'd say it was lost, and then stolen. As long as the taker knows the wallet doesn't belong to them, then it was stolen. It makes no difference if they knew it belonged to you or not, they knew it didn't belong to them and that makes it stealing.

 

[Daisy12]

When I was in 4th grade a kid stoll ALL my spearate store tickets.

 

[delilah]

I agree with the poster above about that somebody initially "lost" it, and the person who found it and decided to keep it "stole" it.

We had a similar problem with our kids our last visit to WDW. My niece left a small drawstring, cloth backpack on the bench outside Soaring. We were going on the "Behind the seeds" tour, and she remembered after we got off the tour. Somebody must have found it, and decided to keep it. Inside was a halfway consumed bottled water (yuck for somebody to want), and a generic spray bottle from the dollar store. The bag itself was a freebie with a nightgown I had given her years ago.

Then, my nephew (her brother) left the replacement spray bottle (also a generic, from the dollar store job) outside Rock N Roller Coaster. We actually saw the person who took it, but, didn't confront them, because, after all, it was a cheapie bottle, and anybody who would bother to steal something like that is, in my opinion, a pathetic loser.

 

[lillygator]

If you dropped something (wallet) without knowing it, and someone picks it up, knowing it belongs to you, but decides to keep it anyway, have you lost the item or did that someone steal it from you? Legally speaking?

knowing, since they know you? or they looked at the id inside? or there was an id inside?


how many people have found a penny/dine/quarter/50 and picked it up and kept it? Since you didn't know who it belonged to is it not stealing?

 

[Angelhalo]

knowing, since they know you? or they looked at the id inside? or there was an id inside?


how many people have found a penny/dine/quarter/50 and picked it up and kept it? Since you didn't know who it belonged to is it not stealing?

While in essence the two situations are the same, I don't think that they can be judged in exactly the same way. Finding a camera left on a bench and keeping it for yourself is not the same as finding a dime on the ground and keeping it. While it is true that the scenarios are the same, I don't believe the matter is black and white, and can't be judged the same way. If they could, then there would be no point in punishing people who steal because they could just say "hey, that guy picked up a penny that someone dropped! We need to prosecute him too!" I believe that for most things there is always a grey area.

I'd still say that finding a wallet that doesn't belong to you and keeping it, would mean that you are stealing something that someone lost.

 

[agnes!]

Picking up money from a sidewalk is different, there's no ID on the money saying who it belonged to. Usually in a wallet there is a Driver's License or a library card...*something* indicating that the item belonged to the person who misplaced it.

I need more information but it almost sounds like the picker-upper or finder of the wallet is acquainted with the person who lost it and *still* decided not to return it but instead is keeping it...

This situation sounds like the difference between the sin of commission and the sin of omission. For instance, if your kid actively commits a lie about where they got some item or if they omit to tell you where it actually came from, the end result is still the same.

agnes!

 

[Ciao Mickey]

knowing, since they know you? or they looked at the id inside? or there was an id inside?


how many people have found a penny/dine/quarter/50 and picked it up and kept it? Since you didn't know who it belonged to is it not stealing?

Yes, they would definitely know it's mine.

I lost it at work. It slipped out of my pocket in the vestibule or right outside of the front door of the building. The facility and grounds are secure, so only the people that work there can "find" it.

It was a slim ID holder that had my picture ID from work (showing through the plastic front), my driver's license with my name and address and picture on it, it also had my credit card with my photo on it and some money.

What bothers me most is, whoever took it is someone I work with and someone I would know. It is not a large facility and everyone basically knows (at least by sight) everyone else.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I guess I have a problem with the word "lost" because I know exactly where I dropped my wallet (within 10 feet). So, in my mind, it wasn't ever lost, just left behind at work.

I would consider it lost if I dropped it at the mall or in wdw or the ocean.

I have to go to the police department and make a report. I guess they will determine whether it was lost or stollen.

I just hope that the person doesn't try to sell my IDs.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have to go to the police department and make a report. I guess they will determine whether it was lost or stollen.

.

Why would you have to report it to the police? I have lost my wallet plenty of times and just go to motor vehicle and replace my license, call the credit card companies and get new ones and report the others lost.....I have never brought the police into it . Even at work if we lose our ID its not a police matter (and its a government job)-- we just go tell them we lost our ID and get a new one for 20.00.

 

[lillygator]

if you know you lost it, then I agree, no reporting to the police...now if you know the other person stole it, that is a different scenario......


now where do we draw the line re. it's ok to pick up a penny, just not a Louis Vuitton bag? is it the value of said item?

 

[~Kik-Kik~]

Tecniclly it's lost, but I would call it stealing.

 

[~Kik-Kik~]

Why would you have to report it to the police? I have lost my wallet plenty of times and just go to motor vehicle and replace my license, call the credit card companies and get new ones and report the others lost.....I have never brought the police into it . Even at work if we lose our ID its not a police matter (and its a government job)-- we just go tell them we lost our ID and get a new one for 20.00.

That time to go get a new license which can take a while. and $20.00 you are spending because you someone wont give it back. AND you need to buy another walet, which is 20-30, so yeah 50 + time you'll never get back.

Arso if they have your ID it's easy to get their number and tell them you have it. I did that once when I found a wallet.

 

[mumofellis]

i would say its theft by finding - thats how we would class it here sucks either way

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Why would you have to report it to the police? I have lost my wallet plenty of times and just go to motor vehicle and replace my license, call the credit card companies and get new ones and report the others lost.....I have never brought the police into it . Even at work if we lose our ID its not a police matter (and its a government job)-- we just go tell them we lost our ID and get a new one for 20.00.

I live in NJ and according to the MV website, if your driver's license is stollen, then you should report it to the police.