March 30, 2017
Source/Upper Darby Police Department
Upper Darby police Chief Michael Chitwood shakes hands with Bob Tracey, who found $15,000 and turned it into police.
A Delaware County man who found $15,200 on a street last year will get to keep the money.
Robert Tracey, of Springfield, turned the money over to police after he found it in a black bag near Burmont and State roads in Upper Darby around midnight on March 8, 2016.
Police kept the money for more than a year, hoping its owner would come forward. But no one ever claimed the cash.
On Monday, a judge ordered the money be returned to Tracey, who had filed a civil lawsuit last September to recoup the cash from Upper Darby Police.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Mike Chitwood congratulated Tracey for his honesty Thursday morning on Twitter. When Tracey turned over the money, Chitwood had hailed him as a "good Samaritan."
Man finally awarded unclaimed $15k he found on Street in Upper Darby 1 year ago. Thanks for your honesty👍😀👮
— Michael J. Chitwood (@ChiefMChitwood) March 30, 2017
Tracey spotted the black bag as he drove home from Norristown after his shift working for SEPTA. Thinking it might be a woman's handbag, Tracey made a U-turn and retrieved it.
Upon discovering the bag was filled with cash, Tracey drove to Upper Darby's Community Policing Center at the Drexelbrook Shopping Center. And when he couldn't find any police officers, he dialed 911 and an officer came to meet him, Chitwood said last year.
Together, they counted the cash at the station. Now, it all belongs to Tracey.
