I sort of did once and almost got charged with a felony.
Here's the story: When I opened my first office as a solo lawyer, I needed some office furniture. I got word one day that the local office of the state health department was getting rid of a bunch of good desks, chairs, filing cabinets and the like when they were getting ready to move into their new building. The person who told me said they'd gotten some stuff, and that they had all of it "out back", that it was there for the taking. This was on a Saturday.
So, I told my brother, and we jumped into his pickup truck and off we went. The health department was, at the time, located next door to the local fire department. We pulled into the parking lot of the fire department to walk over and look at what was "out back". Lots of good things, metal desks, really well-kept items, some dents and dings after years of use on a lot of it, and some outright junk, all piled together. No one from the health department was there. So, a couple of the local firemen were milling around outside and we asked about it. "Yeah, shore enough, they're givin' it away. People's been gittin' it all mornin'."
Well, I helped myself to 3 metal desks, 2 filing cabinets and a few chairs. Bonanza!!! Took it to my new office, and commenced to usin' it. My brother got one of the desks for himself, too.
In one of the filing cabinets --- I discovered a few days later --- was a drawer full of private health records. So, I dutifully called the health department and said, "Hey, thanks for the furniture, but did you know you left some records in one of those filing cabinets? Shall I bring them to you?"
Response: "Hold on, please." Silence, woman comes back to the phone. "Sir, those items have been reported as stolen."
"Do what?"
"We put a lot of stuff out back and came back to find most of it gone. We called the police and reported it stolen. Now, who did you say you are?"
Keep in mind, I'm new in town, too. I felt myself go pale. I gave the woman my name, and told her everything that happened, about the firemens' story and all of it. I also told her that I'd drop what I was doing right then and bring every bit of it back, too.
"Well, honey, [notice the change of tone there], hold on just a minute." Silence again. She comes back. "Don't do anything. I'll call you back."
Now, I don't know if I should start contacting my own lawyer or what at this point. I heard nothing and slept little for 3 days. Then, she called me back. "Honey, don't you worry about that. You just keep it."
I still have 2 of the desks to this day. Wound up giving the filing cabinets to the local Community Action folks who subleased my office from me when I moved.
