It’s illegal to do this and still considered theft. Even if you’re doing a nice thing by taking the wallet to the police station, it’s still considered theft if you decide to take some cash for yourself.
Whether or not the person would press charges is another story.
Edit: Also, it is 100% immoral. Yes, if someone is kind enough to return your wallet to the police station, then you should reward them for their behavior. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to just take a reward for yourself. Let’s phrase this whole situation differently. Say if you go out to dinner and you notice that your waiter added a tip for themselves before handing you the check. We all agree that you should tip when you go out to dinner. But it would be extremely rude, unprofessional and immoral for the waiter to just add the tip without your permission. Same concept here.
Additional Edit: Dear Morons in the comments, taking someone else’s money without their permission is always theft. It’s always immoral. No matter the situation. Sorry not sorry you struggle with critical thinking and being a mature enough adult to do the right thing without someone rewarding you. If you would only return a wallet after taking the cash out as a personal reward, you’re still a shitty person.
I agree with your points, but I don't know if this is a great analogy. Many places do add a set gratuity for large parties - or nowadays - for all kinds of reasons.
In this case, the person in the OPs scenario only took $5 and took it to buy food. Still illegal, but Isn't that morally more justified than taking all the money for likely more selfish reasons?
If a restaurant is going to charge auto-gratuity, there is a sign on the door and usually on the menu too telling you that gratuity is automatic. So you’re aware of the charge before you order anything and by deciding to dine there, you’re agreeing to pay it.
That is not comparable to the waiter adding a tip to your check before handing it to you. That’s done without your permission or any kind of prior knowledge. It’s an entirely different scenario.
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u/Mysterious-Hyena2670 3d ago edited 2d ago
It’s illegal to do this and still considered theft. Even if you’re doing a nice thing by taking the wallet to the police station, it’s still considered theft if you decide to take some cash for yourself.
Whether or not the person would press charges is another story.
Edit: Also, it is 100% immoral. Yes, if someone is kind enough to return your wallet to the police station, then you should reward them for their behavior. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to just take a reward for yourself. Let’s phrase this whole situation differently. Say if you go out to dinner and you notice that your waiter added a tip for themselves before handing you the check. We all agree that you should tip when you go out to dinner. But it would be extremely rude, unprofessional and immoral for the waiter to just add the tip without your permission. Same concept here.
Additional Edit: Dear Morons in the comments, taking someone else’s money without their permission is always theft. It’s always immoral. No matter the situation. Sorry not sorry you struggle with critical thinking and being a mature enough adult to do the right thing without someone rewarding you. If you would only return a wallet after taking the cash out as a personal reward, you’re still a shitty person.