A Pennsylvania Woman Found $20 At Walmart And Instantly Regretted It

A woman thought it was her lucky day finding $20 at Walmart.

But she was hit with a nasty surprise.

And a Pennsylvania woman found $20 at Walmart and instantly regretted it.

Clean Record Shattered Over Pocket Change

Content creator Brianna shared her nightmare story in a viral TikTok video racking up more than 258,000 views.¹

Back in September, she and her sister hit Walmart for craft supplies to paint custom doormats.

At self-checkout, Brianna spotted $20 in change sitting in the coin slot — money someone left behind.

"So naturally, I pick it up and I'm thinking, 'Oh, it's my lucky day,'" Brianna recalls. "Things are really expensive these days. Economy's kinda crapped. I'm like, 'Hell, yeah, dude. $20. This is awesome.'"¹

She looked around the self-checkout area.

Nobody was there — not even a Walmart employee.

Brianna paid for her Walmart items with her card and left with the $20 to buy more supplies at Michael's.

Almost a week later, her dad called with alarming news: police were at the house looking for her.

When the officer called Brianna directly, things got serious fast.

"Were you at Walmart on Saturday?" he asked. "Do you remember the $20?"¹

Pennsylvania Law Criminalizes Found Money

That's when Brianna learned Pennsylvania has a law that makes "finders keepers" a crime.

The officer told her that in Pennsylvania, you can face criminal charges if you pick up money left on the ground, on a counter, or on a seat cushion without making "a reasonable attempt" to find the owner.

Doesn't matter if it's a penny or $50 — the law applies to any amount.

He informed Brianna she was potentially facing a misdemeanor charge.

"I don't even have a speeding ticket — never even gotten a speeding ticket. Clean record. Totally clean," Brianna said. "I sit at home with my cat, and I play the Sims. That's pretty much all I do in life."¹

She immediately started crying and apologizing.

Brianna offered to give the person who left the money $50 to replace the $20.

The officer wasn't interested in her apologies.

"They pulled in the detective, scrubbed through Walmart footage. This $20 must have secretly been made of gold or something," Brianna said.¹

Overzealous Officer Refused To Back Down

The next day, the officer called with an "update."

He told Brianna he'd charge her with a summary offense for disorderly conduct instead of a misdemeanor — making it sound like he was doing her a favor.

"I was made to feel like such a criminal when I was nothing but apologetic on the phone. I was crying. I offered to give this person back $50. And I said, 'I'll get down on my knees. And I'll kiss their feet. Whatever, I'll write them a personal apology — whatever I have to do,'" she recalls.¹

Initially, Brianna planned to plead guilty just to end the ordeal.

Her family convinced her not to put anything on her record over something this absurd.

They hired her a lawyer for $500 since she couldn't afford one herself.

When they went to the hearing, the charge was ultimately dropped after her lawyer arrived.

Brianna is now looking into petitioning the law she calls "bogus."

The Hidden Trap In Pennsylvania's "Common Sense Law"

Pennsylvania statute 18 Pa.C.S. 3924 makes it a crime to take control of property you know has "been lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake" if you don't take "reasonable measures" to return it to the owner.²

Whether it's charged as a misdemeanor or felony depends on the property's value.

Attorney Dave Zuckerman warns that some Pennsylvania police departments "exercise little charging discretion" and file all charges permitted by law — even when someone immediately cooperates and returns the property.²

The law is technically labeled a "common sense law" — meaning common sense should be employed.

But as Brianna's case proves, common sense clearly isn't universal.

Most states have similar laws requiring people to make an effort to return lost property.

But enforcement varies wildly.

California requires anyone finding property worth $100 or more to turn it over to police. If nobody claims it within 90 days, the finder can keep it.³

Some states follow a "treasure trove" rule where buried gold, silver, or paper money belongs to the finder.

But Pennsylvania isn't one of them — only 12 states recognize that doctrine.

In Tennessee and Idaho, treasure troves belong to the landowner specifically to avoid rewarding trespassers.

The reaction on social media was brutal toward law enforcement.

"If only the government spent this much time on stalking/sexual assault victims… truly embarrassing," a top comment read.

"You looked around the see if anyone was near, thats a reasonable attempt to return it if you ask me," another person said.

"As if the Walmart employees wouldn't pocket it IMMEDIATELY if you turned it in," someone else wrote.

"Hundreds if not thousands spent in man power and court costs over $20. The person who left it must have been related to one of the officers," another commenter speculated.

Brianna's story serves as a warning to anyone in Pennsylvania: if you see money on the ground, keep walking — or risk becoming the next victim of overzealous prosecution over pocket change.

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¹ Stacy Fernandez, "'Pennsylvania Has Never Heard Of Finder's Keepers?': Pennsylvania Woman Finds $20 At Walmart. Then She's Charged With A Crime," BroBible, November 21, 2025.

² "Theft of Mislaid Property in PA," Zuckerman Law Firm.

³ "Pennsylvania Laws on Misdemeanor and Felony Theft and Shoplifting," Nolo, March 8, 2024.