Boston taxi driver finds $187,000 in cash left in cab, helps return it to owner

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Boston Globe, Boston.com

Boston taxi driver finds $187,000 in cash left in cab, helps return it to owner

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa

4:47 PM



—Boston Police Department via AP

Talk about a cash cab.

A Boston taxi driver found $187,000 in cash in a backpack forgotten in the backseat of his cab Friday afternoon, Boston police said Tuesday.

According to police, the driver said he made the discovery after he dropped off a man, who was picked up near Massachusetts Avenue and Tremont Street in Boston’s South End, and saw the backpack left behind. ... It was while searching for some form of identification in the backpack that the driver found the enormous sum of cash—bundled in $100, $50, and $20 bills, according to a photo released by police Tuesday.

The driver “immediately” brought the bag to Boston Police Headquarters off Tremont Street, authorities said, and turned the belongings in to the BPD Hackney Unit, which deals with the city’s taxi system. ... Police said that while officers were looking through the bag, they received a call from the man who left the money behind, reporting his lost backpack.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2016/07/05/boston-taxi-driver-finds-187000-left-cab

[frazzled]

1. Um, who carries around $187K in small bills

in their backpack? I have a feeling that its owner has some 'splainin' to do.

[Skittles]

3. who forgets that much money in a cab

someone partaking of their own product, I surmise

[olddad56]

33. happens to me all of the time.

[Skittles]

36. PUT DOWN THE PIPE, OLDDAD56, AND GET SOME SLEEP!

[MADem]

19. It was an inheritance, apparently.

But the cheap guy only gave the cabbie a lousy hundred.

I woulda sprung for a thousand, even if I was splitting the cash with relations--and I'd tell 'em that it's a small price to pay, like a surcharge.

[PJMcK]

2. Diogenes is looking for this cabbie (n/t)

[Blue_Tires]

4. Is that really a case of being "honest"?

the cabbie knows there's no way he could have kept it without it getting tracked to him very quickly... Although to be fair, he almost certainly did save that courier's life....

You know how I know it wasn't his money? Because the courier only peeled him off $100, which would have been an insult all things being equal...

[nolabels]

8. Understanding that much money pooled in one place got that way for reason

People who have money piled like that, that are not too keen about how it gets from place to place are usually stingy. They get couriers as cheap as possible then expect to be their when it supposed to. They are not too concerned about the sum because they probably have more than need and or have cheap managers who like to find low price help.

Think about the reality and gravity of the situation, it only could point to the obvious. Like some kind of cut rate Realtor or similar

[cosmicone]

17. He could have pocketed a couple of thousand

which he didn't -- that is being honest.

[MADem]

20. Local news says it was his dough-he inherited it.

Some folks are just cheap, maybe?

[Blue_Tires]

29. "cheap" is putting it mildly...

Either way, I'm guessing it will be about a month before dude is broke again...

[MADem]

31. Maybe sooner, unless someone helps him.

He's homeless, and the money was from his dead father's estate.

He might not be thinking terribly clearly.

[NanceGreggs]

5. ...

"Boston police spokeswoman Rachel McGuire said the man said he was the beneficiary of a trust and had recently inherited the money. Upon arriving to police headquarters, the man provided a receipt of the inheritance proving he was the legal owner, and police returned him his backpack and money, McGuire said.

the taxi driver, identified as 72-year-old Raymond “Buzzy” MacCausland, received a $100 reward from the owner of the $187,000 in return for his good deed."

[cloudbase]

6. I'm amazed the cops didn't

confiscate the money under civil forfeiture laws and make the guy jump through years of hoops to try to get it returned.

[onethatcares]

7. my thoughts to a tee

hell of a party in the station this week. for sure.

[roamer65]

11. Only $100?

What a cheap bastard.

[NanceGreggs]

13. Well, that was my first thought, too.

Under the circumstances, I would have been far more "grateful" than a hundred bucks worth.

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. For a 72 year old man at that

The old guy needs a gofundme campaign.

[Ash_F]

9. Why give out an inheritance it cash?

That is so risky.

[cosmicone]

16. Some people like to touch and feel their cash

He probably withdrew it to roll in it and enjoy having it and was probably going to redeposit it.

[Blue_Tires]

30. And we see he promptly lost it

And only got it back by sheer luck...

I think the only reason the cabbie returned it was because he reasonably assumed it was drug money and figured a hit squad was coming to his home had he kept it

[MADem]

21. Maybe there are other heirs and they want their cut in cash. nt

[Ash_F]

25. Maybe. I just hope they stay safe with it.

[Ash_F]

10. Also I bet that cabby saw No Country for Old Men

"No thanks"

[IronLionZion]

12. The responses on this thread...

[olddad56]

14. probably one relieved drug dealer who was gonna be on the hook to his boss for $187000

[Skittles]

26. and it would have been easy to go after the taxi driver

[GeoWilliam750]

15. Remarkably small reward

[ansible]

18. Jesus, how absent minded can people be?!

Who the hell just forgets a bag full of cash like that?! I refuse to believe the owner was that stupid and that this was some sort of test.

[Night Watchman]

22. That NEVER Would've Happened in New York!

I kid, I kid!

[TeamPooka]

24. $100 reward? Didn't seem very thankful. nt

[Warpy]

27. I'm surprised the DEA didn't swoop in to seize it

They've been known to try to grab as little as 5 grand here.

[Odin2005]

28. I'm surprised the cops didn't steal it under civil forfeiture laws.

the PTB want us dependent on the finance industry and so anyone carrying around lots of cash must be punished.

[MADem]

32. UPDATE ON THIS STORY: A Cruise company offered this cabbie a seven day vacation.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/07/07/honest-cabbie-boston-money-gets-free-cruise/

bOSTON (AP) — The Boston cab driver who got a $100 reward from a man who left a backpack containing more than $187,000 in his taxi has been offered a free cruise.

Royal Caribbean on Wednesday offered 72-year-old Raymond “Buzzy” MacCausland and his longtime girlfriend, Sharon King, a seven-day trip to the Caribbean, including airfare to Florida.

King says the Middleton, New Hampshire, couple’s lives have been crazy since MacCausland’s story made national news.

[MADem]

34. UPDATE ON THIS STORY: A Cruise company offered this cabbie a seven day vacation.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/07/07/honest-cabbie-boston-money-gets-free-cruise/

bOSTON (AP) — The Boston cab driver who got a $100 reward from a man who left a backpack containing more than $187,000 in his taxi has been offered a free cruise.

Royal Caribbean on Wednesday offered 72-year-old Raymond “Buzzy” MacCausland and his longtime girlfriend, Sharon King, a seven-day trip to the Caribbean, including airfare to Florida.

King says the Middleton, New Hampshire, couple’s lives have been crazy since MacCausland’s story made national news.

[MADem]

35. I have no idea how that happened--LOL--sorry 4 the doublepost! nt