Namechanged for this obviously.
About a week ago I went out shopping and found a purse in a restaurant. I used to work in said restaurant and know that the manager (at least back then) used to basically claim lost property for himself, ie. if wallets were handed in he would just keep the cash and chuck the cards, jewelry he tended to keep unless clearly useless etc. so, obviously I was a little reluctant about giving it in there. That part might have been a bit silly as its unlikely that the same manager still worked there or anything or that he hadn't eventually got caught, but anyway, I didn't feel comfortable handing it in there.
I decided to give it in at the nearest main information desk of the shopping centre (very large place with a fair few info desks). I figured that the person probably didn't know quite where they had left it anyway so they would likely try one of the main desks anyway if looking for it. Also fairly relevant here, I have a health condition which makes it extremely hard to walk long distances, especially if I need to do so quickly. It can literally take me hours to walk from my house to the local shop when its flared up properly. And this was quite a bad day too. So, on the way there I nipped into the toilet, where I saw someone I vaguely recognised and was talking to them about what happened, she laughed at me for being 'stupid' enough to be taking long journeys rather than just hand it in at the restaurant as apparently my reasons were silly , something I do agree with now, especially given whats gone on. I had to sit for a while in the loo too as I was in a lot of pain. She asked me where I was going, where I was meant to be going and that and then offered to take it to hand in as she was going that way anyway and she could see I was uncomfortable and basically, it made sense. Would have taken me a fair while to get there, and if she was going that way anyway, why on earth not just..make things a bit more convenient. At this stage I was in so much pain I was feeling quite bitter about finding the thing in the first place as it was a bit of a pain that I was now responsible for getting it sorted when all I wanted to do was find somewhere to sit, then probably go home. I gave it to her and she said she would hand it in on her way round and I thought nothing more of it.
Last night when I was sorting the kids tea, the police showed up at my door. Asking if I was at X on a certain date etc. I said yes, and they asked if I found a ourse which again I said yes. They asked if I still had it, at which stage alarm bells started going off. I said no, and told them the story. They then told me it had been reunited with its owner (so why ask if I still have it if they know I don't?!) and I started breathing again. But they said, the owner claimed a lot of money had been taken from it. I swear to god I did not open the thing and certainly did not take anything from it and basically, why on earth would I go to the trouble I had, if I was planning on taking anything? Long story short, they took a very short written statement from me (saying yes I picked it up, but passed it onto someone else because convenience) and left, but I was left with the feeling they suspected me. I have never before had any issues with the police, but am generally quite good at reading people and they really seemed to be off with me.
I gave them a description of the woman who said she would hand it in, and they said they would check more cctv. I am not concerned about that as it will show her, and will presumably show her leaving the loos and going to the help desk to hand it in, given the police told me that it had been handed in and was with its owner now. However, this claim about money being taken is scaring me a bit and I have been panicking like hell since they left. I cannot make any sense of it to be honest as surely, if this woman did take the cash from it she would have just discarded the purse entirely? What would be te point in taking it and then handing the rest of it in? Trying to think 'like a criminal', surely thats just drawing attention to yourself as you would know you were on camera and would be likely to be found out where if you just discarded it, noone would know any different especially if it was not you who actually found it? Anyway, panicked a lot about it, DH came in from work and I told him and he said straight away that the person is probably just trying it on for compensation or something. Which I had not considered at all.
Basically my question is, whats likely to happen wth this?! They did not tell me how much money was said to be missing, they did not tell me much at all really besides the fact that it was handed in, she had it but is now saying stuffs missing. I have been awake since 5am worrying about this, picturing them turning back up today to arrest me! DH says thats a but over the top but as I said, I have had no dealings with the police before (oddly, except one time when I did have money stolen from my bank, a lot of it and they just said they didn't have the resources to look into it properly) and am prbably overreacting but I am terrified. Utterly terrified.
From looking around the internet, it seems I would be held responsible as, being the person who found it I should personally have 'taken steps to get it back to owner' so I assume from that, that I passed it to someone else thats me in the wrong. I just feel so fucking stupid in all honesty and wish I had just left it where it was instead of trying to help. I mean, I know I cannot walk far and in the back of my mind I must have known it would be a right pain in the arse to actually physically get it to where I planned on taking it. I really wish I had just ignored it, and then whoever else found it could have done whatever they wanted with the damn thing. Seems a bit of..no good deed goes unpunished. Even though I know I did really stupid things too during the whole thing. Mainly, not trusting the staff in the restaurant just because I worked there a few years before and the staff at that time were not honest.
Sorry if this all sounds waffly, just trying to get everything in so as not to drip feed.
My question is basically, whats likely to come of this? I mean, they are probably going to question the woman who handed it in now. Who presumably will say the same as me, and say I gave it to her as she had offered as she was going that way, and she handed it in and that was the end of it. I cannot see any reason for her to have taken it, took the cash then went on to hand it in, that makes no sense so I do think either, someone else found it first, swiped the cash then left the purse before I found it, or the person who lost it is trying it on. But how on earth can this be proved? Are the police likely to turn up to arrest me and question me officially? Is there a chance this will end up in court?! Did I commit a crime, rather than just being a bit dim, when passing the found property to someone else rather than physically taking it myself? So so panicky and might not be the best thing to write on here about it just incase it does end up more serious but, I don't know what to do. DH says just stop worrying, but I wish it was that easy!
To make matters a bit more confusing, when I was searching last night, it seems that some police forces say not to hand in things you find at all, and that the advice now is basically, take it home and put it on social media (as police don't deal with lost property due to cuts) and try to reunite it with its owner that way. That as long as you take reasonable steps to get it back to the owner, its fine. I would say that I took reasonable steps, however I didn't know that handing it in to the main desk was seemingly now classed as the wrong thing to do?! I also thought it would be illegal to open someone elses purse and would open you up to a fair few accusatins too but apparently you are meant to open it, take pictures of the ID (remove dientifying details though) and post it online, along with calling the number on the back of any cards that are in there). All so very confusing and doing nothing at all for my anxiety issues.
Just incase the post has came out too waffly to understand, short version - I found a purse, but passed it onto someone else to hand in, it seems they did hand it in, but now the owner is claiming money is missing. Am I likely to get arrested for theft or something here? And if so, how on earth do I prove innocence?!
Please, I already know I made a few really stupid moves in all of this and as I said, really wish I had just left the thing where it was. I was paranoid in not giving it to the restaurant (though still think its more likely the person would try to claim at a main desk rather than actually in there) and possibly really stupid to pass it to someone else for convenience sake rather than struggling on to the main desk myself. So I do already know I was more than a bit dim. I also know in future, to not bother trying to help and just leave whatever where it is. I have definitely learnt my lesson in that. I just want to know if its possible to actually get charged for being an idiot basically, and how on earth I would defend myself about money that was apparently taken that I know nothing at all about and don't even know if it existed in the first place!