US man charged with larceny after finding $7000 cash in car park

Robert Withington, from Trumbull, Connecticut, said he found the bag of cash on the ground outside a local bank in May and decided to keep it, thinking it was his lucky day.

“I walked out onto the parking lot, saw something on the ground and there was no one around so I picked it up,” he told Hearst Connecticut Media.

“It’s not like I stole something.

“Everything was in the moment and it was like I hit the lottery. That was it.”

According to Trumbull Police, the 56-year-old, who turned himself in to police last week, believed he had no obligation to return the bag to its rightful owner.

“This is like a crock of baloney. I found money and now it’s probably going to cost me money,” said Withington, who told Hearst Connecticut Media he did not notice anything identifiable in the bag.

“If I knew I was wrong in the first place, I would have given it right back. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”

Police said the bag, which was full of town tax receipt funds, was clearly marked with the bank’s insignia and contained “numerous documents” that identified the contents belonged to the town of Trumbull.

Officers launched an investigation when an employee of the Town’s Tax Collector Office was unable to locate the bank deposit bag while making a delivery to the bank on Tuesday May 30.

Police combed through surveillance videos, obtained search warrants and conducted “numerous” interviews, before learning the bag had simply been “inadvertently dropped” on the ground outside the bank, where Withington picked it up.

Three months on, Withington was charged on Friday with third-degree larceny, punishable by up to five years in prison and up to $5000 ($A7720) in fines.

Withington, who runs a dog training business, claimed he has never had a criminal record.

“After living in this town for 20 years, I’m not looking for trouble.”

He was released from custody to appear in court on September 5.