During “Operation Lucky Bag” the police left shopping bags, backpacks and purses scattered around the subway system. Then they sat back and watched the items. Anyone who took one of the items and then walked past the police officers without reporting it was arrested. These items were valued at a few hundred dollars, at the most and therefore the “crime” of picking them up was a misdemeanor.

Well that sucks. Although, with all the ‘look out for suspicious bags’ warnings around BART, I probably wouldn’t pick up a bag anyway. I might say… “LOOK OUT! SUSPICIOUS BAG!” And then there would be chaos. At the debriefing the chief would ask the officer, “So, why were you putting suspicious bags around the station again?”

Okay that wouldn’t happen. Oh well.

[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished In New York – Total Lawyers]