Local Teen Learns It 'Pays' To Do The Right Thing

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The congratulations---and donations---keeping coming in for a Plano girl who found $2,000 in cash at a North Dallas shopping center. but turned it into a local bank.

For a while, it looked like the only thing Ashley Donaldson was going to get for her good deed was a pat on the back.  But her story sparked change at Dallas City Hall and an outpouring of support from strangers.

"The last 24 hours has been such a ripple effect," she said late today as she accepted another check check, $2,000 from rank-and-file police officers of the Dallas Police Association.  After nearly losing the money she first turned in, strangers have now given her upwards of $10,000.  "It still blows me away what a city can do and I'm still overwhelmed by all of this," she said.

Ashley's dilemma was resolved because state law allows a police chief and a court magistrate to  determine ownership of found property that a government could otherwise legally claim for itself.

Dallas Police are not commenting further on the issue, but on Twitter Chief David Brown told followers that he personally had "dropped the ball," in his words.  "This screw up was an unintended consequence of a policy change in 2009 that was meant to dispose of money from ill-gotten gains," he wrote, adding, "We should have used common sense in this case but I continue to find common sense isn't so common."

"I would suspect the city doesn't want to get into the 'Whose cash is this?' business," says Dallas attorney Clint David.  He says the city may have a public relations nightmare on its hands, but state laws on found property aren't just for $2,000 discovered on a sidewalk.  "It's for the hundreds of thousands of dollars of drug money, unclaimed money in accounts, so there have to be laws in place (about) what to do with that money.   He adds, "finders keepers-losers weepers is only a kid's game, not the law.

But Ashley is finding honesty really IS the best policy, even if it's confusing.   She tells CBS 11 she hasn't yet decided what to do with the money, so she's going to keep it for awhile; but she promises she will spend it wisely.