Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

I could see something being defined as "Theft by finding" if someone found a lost item and kept it. Such as "finding" a laptop just lying there and walking off with it (while its owner went off for a minute for a coffee). Or even finding an accidentally dropped cell phone, such as the kid did, but swapping out the SIM cards and using it as their own, when it would have been an easy matter to determine who it belonged to.

I once found a lost (and drowned!) AT&T cell phone at a bus stop. It was non-functional, but I turned it into AT&T and they were able to determine by serial number (or SIM number), whos phone it was.

This kid found the cell phone, immediately determined who it belonged to, and turned it into the police. He shoud have been thanked for his diligence and honesty, not arrested. Apparently it was a slow day at the precinct and someone needed to up their quota numbers.