AV says:

Despite anyone finding a lost wallet having 10 days by law to return it, NYPD is using entrapment techniques to immediately arrest anyone who picks up planted wallets and bags which are now seeded with credit cards to make it a felony (instead of just cash which was a misdomeaner). Over half the people arrested had no previous criminal record whatsoever. The cops were ordered to stop "Operation Lucky Bag" by the court but apparently it continues with officers now instructed to writeup "suspicious behavior."

NY Times excerpt:

In February, Aquarius Cheers, a 31-year-old Manhattan man who said he was on a shopping expedition with his wife, spotted a Verizon shopping bag with a cellphone and iPod inside at the 59th Street station of the No. 1 train. As he was looking in the bag, a train arrived. Mr. Cheers said he and his wife boarded, rushed past a uniformed officer, bringing along the bag with the intention of looking for a receipt. Undercover officers then grabbed him. After his case was reported by NY1, the prosecutors vacated the charges.

In my life, I've found and returned three or four lost wallets and purses. But the next time I see a lost wallet, I'm going to assume it's a decoy and walk by without doing anything about it. It's just too risky.

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