The City Of Dallas Steals $2000 From A 15-Year-Old Who Did The Right Thing

The City Of Dallas Steals $2000 From A 15-Year-Old Who Did The Right Thing

Americans love stories about people who find large amounts of money and are honest enough to turn it in — stories about people like 15-year-old Ashley Donaldson. She found $2000 in an envelope and although it must have been tempting to keep that cash, she decided to do the right thing and turn it in to the police.

Unfortunately for Ashley, when the money wasn’t claimed, the city of Dallas proved to have a lot less integrity than she does.

Back in February, Plano High School student Ashley Donaldson found $2,000 in a small unmarked envelop at the Pavillion Shopping Center in North Dallas.

Not knowing who the money belonged to (and being a goodie two shoes), she forked over the cash to a nearby Chase Bank. For three months, the city and the bank worked tirelessly (or not) to find the owner of this lost bounty; to no avail.

Normally, the cash then goes to the person that found it. A nice, tidy haul for Ms. Donaldson. Perhaps some college money or a nice new laptop.

Nah.

The city of Dallas just kept it.

On Tuesday, police said under a new city policy, the unclaimed money will go into Dallas’ general fund – not back to the person who found it, as in years past.

“We appreciate your honesty,” said Dallas police spokesman Senior Cpl. Kevin Janse. “We’re going to put the money to good use. It’s not going to be wasted, but put to good use for the City of Dallas.”

That’s not the answer Ashley Donaldson had been hoping for. “I was thinking about a car,” she confessed.

No car for you, Ashley.

Of course, this creates a huge bind for people who find money. The honest thing to do is to turn the money in. That way, hopefully, the money will get back to its rightful owner. But, if nobody claims the money, then the rightful owner of the money is YOU. So, if no one claims the money, then the city is going to take money that should be yours. Do you really want to take the risk?

Also, you know who could really “put the money to good use?” Ashley Donaldson. At this point, she’s probably thinking that she made a mistake by being so honest and if she’s not, she should be. Other people in Dallas, after seeing how Ashley Donaldson was ripped off, aren’t likely to do the right thing since they’re being taught by the city that honesty doesn’t pay. What you penalize, you get less of, and the city of Dallas is penalizing honesty. It’s not very smart.

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