This morning while walking my dog, I found an unattended pair of Ray Ban sunglasses in a case. I picked them up and looked around to see if their owner had dropped them. Then I looked for NYPD officers waiting to arrest whoever picked them up. (THREAD 1/x)
You may be wondering why I thought by picking these sunglasses up, I might be a target for arrest. We see an uptick in “Lucky Bag” cases around the holidays. The NYPD calls it “Operation Lucky Bag,” where they plant unattended valuables & arrest the person who picks them up. 2/x
Often the valuables are sticking out of a bag or purse (hence “lucky bag”), which is left out in public and watched by the NYPD. This practice targets poor people in low income communities, not career criminals. It is patently disgusting. 3/x
The bag never has any ID or owner so even if one tries to return the item to its rightful owner, it’s not possible. Anyhow, being that the holidays are approaching and we will, I’m sure, see more of these cases, just wanted you all to be aware of this practice. 4/x
Here’s a tweet & article about this from earlier this year: (5/x)
Sorry, I forgot to include the ending of my story, which is that I brought the sunglasses into a local bodega (the glasses were on the ground right outside) and asked them to hold onto them in case their rightful owner came looking for them. 6/x
Apparently they're also doing "Lucky Bikes," where the NYPD leaves unattended, unlocked bikes on the street and then arrests and charges anyone who takes them. Thanks @defendermurad for drawing everyone's attention to that.
