By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 12, 2019 | It’s not every day that you are driving down Interstate 285, or any other interstate, and you run into an ethical problem.
That’s the thought that came into my mind when hearing about greenbacks being blown out of a cash-carrying armored truck on Interstate 285 near Ashford Dunwoody Road on Tuesday night. Drivers behind the truck were jerking to the side of the road, jumping out, and frantically picking up currency, some in $100 bills. An officer was quoted: “Ones, five, fifties, you name it, it was there.”
So the ethical problem arrived: was this an unexpected windfall for these drivers to pocket some cash, or should they gather the cash and give it back to its rightful owners? I suspect many were in the first category.
Dunwoody police said that those who picked up the money could be charged with theft, even as high a charge as a felony, if they did not return the money. But, let’s face it: determining the names of the people pocketing the dough might be difficult. However, police were checking auto registration numbers from videotapes about what autos stopped in this incident.
As far as can be determined so far, the blow-out of bills amounted to about $175,000, but the exact amount could not be fixed immediately.
Thinking about this situation, if you saw the money blow out of the truck, your first thought perhaps was to pull to the side of the road. Then you may have started to pick up the bills. But somewhere along the way, you must have been thinking: “Now that I have this money, what to do with it? Do I simply keep what I have, and get back into my automobile? Or do I turn the money in?”
Your answer, of course, would determine your ethical stance. Some may have taken the money and driven on. You wonder if, thinking about it later that day, or when they may have awakened at 3 a.m., would they change their mind? Could they live with themselves by remaining silent? And would they have a nagging feeling that pretty soon, someone was going to knock on the door, having found where they lived, and have some questions for them?
The armored truck company, it seems logical, plays a part in the aftermath. After all, a door on their truck came open, starting it all. Does the armored truck company have some obligation to offer some sort of reward to those good citizens who returned the money they scooped up? Say a person turned in $500. Wouldn’t it be fair to that person for the armored truck company to give that person part of it, say even just $50. It could be considered their everyday part of doing business. They lost money; someone found it; reward them! And the armored truck company has some responsibility in all this. If nothing more, they caused a traffic problem.
And those good souls who took the money and ran? First, they have to live with themselves. Secondly, if the police can identify that their car was present, and when confronted, if they give back the money, perhaps the police will be lenient, with no citation given.
That leaves those identified who might deny the taking of the greenbacks. Or maintain that they found only $700, when they really found $7,000.
Those are the people who have to live with themselves. They have a real ethical problem. I’m just glad I wasn’t driving I-285 and saw that money flying around. I might now be having a problem.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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