If I pick a wallet from the street , am I criminal ?

Question

If I pick a wallet from the street , am I criminal ?

Answer

Only if you keep it and use its contents for personal gain without taking the steps needed to attempt to get it returned to its rightful owner. There is a difference between lost and abandoned property in the law -- people generally do not abandon items of value on a street. They lose them, and there are laws (both common law and statutory) to protect them. But simply picking it up, no.