Teen finds $2,000 on street, but policy denies her the reward

Ashley Donaldson, 15 found $2,000 on a Dallas street and turned it over to authorities, she thought she’d be rewarded for her honesty. But a new city policy has prevented her from pocketing the unclaimed cash, prompting an outcry from the community. The policy states that the money must be treated like contraband, and added to the municipal coffers.

But the public is pressuring, so police are thinking of bending the rules. She may receive the money if the owner can’t be found.

“Assuming the rightful owner doesn’t come forward, I think there’s a very good chance she will be awarded the money,” Lt. Chess Williams, spokesman with the Dallas Police Department, told FoxNews.com. Fox News

On February 19, Donaldson found the money in a Dallas parking lot not far from a Chase Bank. The teen quickly turned the wad of cash over to the bank which then gave the money to the Dallas Police Department after it could not identify the owner. Donaldson was then told if within a month, the owner didn’t come forward, she could keep the money. But then police informed her three months later that under a new policy, the money had to go to the city instead.

“That may have been told to her but under existing policy, that would have been an error,” Williams explained. He said the policy was changed in 2009 so that unclaimed money would go directly to the city’s general fund if the owner was not found. Fox News

Meanwhile, Donaldson, who is a freshman in high school, was living in a one-room apartment with her parents and four siblings when she found the money. The family moved into a home in Plano two weeks ago but reportedly still faces financial difficulties. After controversy erupted over the city’s policy, an anonymous donor came forward Wednesday to assist Donaldson and her family, rewarding the girl a $4,000 check.

Williams said Thursday the department realized the situation was “unfair” and is moving “very quickly to rectify it.”