Man loses wallet, gets an honest letter from the thief

When one New York City man lost his wallet, he did not expect to have it sent back to him. But this isn't necessarily a feel-good story of a Good Samaritan in a tough city.

For Reilly Flaherty, 28, it was a bitter-sweet tale of greed wrapped up in a bit of altruism.

"I thought everything was gone, so it was kind of cool to get part of what was lost," Flaherty told ABC's New York station WABC.

Flaherty told ABC News today that he was at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn for a Wilco concert on Feb. 5 when he realized his wallet was gone.

He said he was "just completely dejected -- lost everything, gotta go get new credit cards, new driver's license -- everything," the Lower East Side resident told WABC.

But about a week after the concert, Flaherty said he received an envelope “completely unmarked," with his credit cards and license, but a few of his other belongings were missing.

There was also a note in the envelope in which the anonymous writer stated “I kept the cash because I needed weed, the metrocard because well the fare’s $2.75 now, and the wallet cause it’s kinda cool. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Flaherty found humor in the note, telling WABC “it was very clear that this was the work of a specialist. We've got this pot-smoking, modern day Robin Hood that's out there.”

He said he only wishes they could have been friends.

"The ironic thing really is that, you know, we could've been good friends. Both like Wilco, into indie music, same taste in wallets, but he or she tried to take what was of any currency, any value," Flaherty told WABC.

When Flaherty spoke to ABC News today, after joking about the incident, he described it as a "pretty serious scandal" that he could see turning into a blockbuster film where Ryan Gosling plays Flaherty. The unknown person could be “up and down the subways of Manhattan now smoking weed,” or could be on the other side of the world, he told ABC News.