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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1095 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 27, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Imagine you're in a wrong bank at a wrong time, and you get taken as a hostage while a heist crew tries to escape with the cash / bearer bonds / gold bars. One by one they are taken out by the police or by in-fighting, until the last one perishes in a car wreck that leaves you alone with a goodie duffel bag in a crashed vehicle. What is the best course of action to keep the stolen valuables to yourself?

Reminds me of this story, starts at 42:54. Bank heist in a small town, everyone in Indiana turns into Batman and joins in to stop the criminals. It would make a great movie.

There is a part where the thieves' car breaks down and they pay a bystander for their car with the stolen money. Question is, does he get to keep the money afterwards? We do not know.

Question is, does he get to keep the money afterwards? We do not know

What do you mean we don't know? Isn't that a clear cut case of Nemo dat quod non habet?

We don't know because it wasn't written in the article and it happened over a hundred years ago. But his car was bought from him at gunpoint and then wrecked later, and I don't think they had great insurance plans back then. He might have been allowed to keep the money out of pity..

The legal principle is some 1700 years old at least..

The car owners grievance is clearly with the thieves not the bank. Whether they gave him money for the car or not doesn't matter. Imagine they had just robbed him, would he then be entitled to some of the banks money because the robbers wrecked his car?

I think you have to listen to the story to get it. Everyone took the law into their own hands. Yes, legally he shouldn't get the money. But ethically, I don't think anyone took it back from him.

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