Should this guy be facing charges?

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The way I see it, this is a moral question, not a legal question. Something is missing from this story...

unless he was somehow involved in getting the workers to throw the diamonds out (seems likely enough) I don't see how you can be at fault at all for picking something out of the trash.

If he truly just found them, they should be his. The jewelry store that owned the diamonds will be filling an insurance claim (probably on the mover's insurance) and getting their money back. I don't see how that is any different than the metal pickers driving around the night before trash day.

If he knew what was in the boxes and convinced someone to throw it out for him, that would be stealing.

I'd say it was pretty obvious that they were not thrown away but misplaced, and I'd expect there is a clause for common sense somewhere in the law that would make something that obvious illegal.

I'd also say he is an idiot for selling them in the same building.

I know in Minnesota at least, you need to make an effort for at least 30 days to find the owner in similar cases ( cash, etc). There could easily be this clause elsewhere.

I'm wondering if the jewelers were planning to "loose" them for the insurance, and this guy just messed things up? I mean really, who looses millions of dollars worth of loose stones? If they were moving, wouldn't they take inventory, then have an armored car company move the stuff? The company that used to work for would get thier panties in a twist over $20 worth of missing hose fittings on a service truck.

Or, this was a workers stolen stash/retirement fund that was being moved out of the building by innocent hands, and this security guards curiosity fouled things up.

Either way, the story doesn't add up, there is definitely a page missing.

If I found a huge stash in the dumpster, and had reasonably good idea of who's it was, I wouldn't pocket the stuff. If I had no way to know where it came from I still wouldn't pocket it, but with a stash this big, I don't know if the police would be the best call.

The way I see it, if it's in the trash, and he had nothing to do with getting it in the trash, it's fair game. Doing anything to confirm that it should be in the trash is just extra good samaritan work.

I agree it's hard to believe millions of dollars in diamonds found their way into the trash by accident.

Finder's keepers man. His mistake was being so quick to cash in and selling them so close. Sit on them for a few years, until after the jeweler has already received the insurance payout, then report the find to the authorities. You saw some cool old boxes in the trash, you grabbed them, and put them in a shed and forgot about them. A year later, you came across them and opened them.

If I spotted a cool old box in the trash, carried it off thinking "This would be a cool box that maybe I can use for something," and it was full of diamonds, I'd call the police. Well, I'd probably make sure they weren't just costume jewelry first. In general, carting off garbage being thrown out shouldn't be a crime (unless it was in a recycling bin and whoever was throwing it out was getting paid for the scrap), but morally, if it was clear this shouldn't have been garbage, one should make a reasonable effort to find the rightful owner.

Maybe someone else stole 4m in diamonds and then threw 3.6m obviously in the trash. Basically the perfect crime since no one will believe the poor person who nabs the trash only took 3.6 of the 4.

Reminds me of this lol

https://youtu.be/Byyn0R4h7u4

Apparently, he broke a law in the jurisdiction he is in. So, yes.

He should also face charges for being stupid.

Personally, I'm a finders keepers, losers weepers kind of person.

It's also possible that the prosecutor's office doesn't believe it was accidental, thinks he was in cahoots with the movers to try to steal them, can't prove it, and this is the best they can do to charge him.

He was a security guard. He should have known better.

Like someone else said, I would have taken the "cute little wooden box" home cuz I liked it and sat on it for a while. No way I would sell them in the same building.

pinchvalve wrote: Finder's keepers man.

You are aware that's not actually legal doctrine, right? I'm picturing the court scene now: "Billy Johnson, recess, 1983, clearly states Finder's Keepers. The defense rests."