TRUMBULL, Conn. — A Connecticut man is accused of stealing nearly $5,000 of a town’s tax money that he found in a bag outside of a Trumbull bank, authorities said.

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Robert Withington, 56, of Trumbull, was charged with larceny in the third degree, according to a news release from the Town of Trumbull. Trumbull surrendered to authorities on Friday, town officials said.

Trumbull told The Connecticut Post that he found the money and felt like he had “hit the lottery.”

“I have never had a criminal record in my whole life,” Withington told the newspaper on Monday. “This is like a crock of baloney. I found money and now it’s probably going to cost me money.”

Detectives opened an investigation after town officials said that an employee of Trumbull’s tax collector was unable to find the deposit bag while making a delivery to the bank on May 30, WVIT-TV reported. The employee reported the missing funds, Lt. Brian Weir told the Post.

The bag was marked with the bank’s insignia and contained “numerous documents” that identified the owner as the Town of Trumbull, the town’s news release stated.

It was unclear how the employee misplaced the bag. Trumbull First Selectman Vicki Tesoro told the Post that an employee never travels alone to make a bank deposit.

“They are always escorted by the police in a police car when they make a deposit,” Tesoro told the newspaper. “They don’t go to the bank alone.”

Tesoro said she could not comment further.

According to surveillance video, the bank deposit had been “inadvertently dropped” on the ground outside the bank, WVIT reported. Police said that Withington allegedly picked up the bag.

Withington admitted that he kept the bag when he spoke with Trumbull police, town officials stated in their news release.

Withington told the Post that he was acting on an impulse since there was no one around to claim the bag.

“It’s not like this was planned out,” Withington told the Post. “Everything was in the moment and it was like I hit the lottery. That was it.

“I just took the cash and called it a day. I don’t even know whose it was because I didn’t look. All I saw was cash,” Withington added. “If I knew I was wrong in the first place, I would have given it right back. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”

Withington is scheduled to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court on Sept. 5, town officials said.