Police officer finds $120,000 on roadway, returns it

CONCORD, Calif. -- There they were, lying in the middle of Concord Boulevard near Princeton Court, two bank bags full of $120,000. The person who stopped and picked them up happened to be an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer on her way home.

"I opened it up just enough to see that it was hundred dollar bills," said the CHP officer, who asked not to be identified.

"I was like, oh my god, it didn't feel real," she said.

She says she struggles to pay the bills like most of us, but she didn't hesitate to turn the money in.

A man reported the loss, claiming it was his life savings. After the proper screening Concord Police turned it over to him.

"My kids, when I came home, were like,'Mom! What were you thinking?'" she said.

The CHP officer, who was raised by a single mother in South Central Los Angeles, says it was a moment to teach her children about integrity.

"There was no one on that street after I had come back, nobody would have known," she said. "But that's what determines a person's integrity, it's what you do when nobody is looking."

Most of the people whom with ABC7 News spoke with Monday night agreed with the CHP officer's actions.

"I think I would feel guilty if I ended up going on a trip with it, or buying clothes with it because it would always be a reminder of something I knew was bad," Concord resident Brandy Earnest said.

"In the back of my mind I would always want to do the right thing and probably just report it," Concord resident Calvin Revulta said.

The CHP officer says she has faith in her fellow man and believes most people would do what she did.