Florida man makes unexpected decision after finding $30,000 in Wawa bathroom
What would you do if you found $30,000 in a bathroom? Maybe not the same as one Florida man did...
Luis Salavar, 58, got more than he bargained for when he stopped off at a Wawa to use the restroom just before 9am on May 3.
Luis stopped in the store in Riviera Beach, which is just one hour north of Miami, and found the fanny pack with $30,023 of cash hanging on the handicap bar in the bathroom stall, according to the police report.
However, instead of keeping the money for himself, Luis set on a mission to find the man - with no luck, until a police report was filed.
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The huge lump sum belonged to a 24-year-old, who was using the money to pay for medical treatment for his sister. It’s been revealed that he had earnt the money by selling his Pokémon collectibles.
After realizing he had left the bag in the Wawa bathroom, the man filed a report to the Riviera Beach Police Department.
“I thought I was absolutely screwed,” the man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Washington Post.
The suspect, Luis, was identified a few days later, via surveillance, and it was then that he revealed he had been trying to find the owner, as he handed the bag, with the full amount of cash, to the man at the station.
Luis had opened the bag initially to find the man's identification, but was left in shock when he found the cash instead. He said he didn't trust the store employees or law enforcement to find the rightful owner, so he tried to look himself.
“$30,000 is great, but it’s not mine to keep,” Luis told the Washington Post. “I like to earn my money.”
"He hugged me," Luis told ABC7, describing the moment the man was reunited with the bag. "It was not my money to take, I wasn't raised that way."
The 24-year-old owner of the bag called Luis a ‘lifesaver,’ and even offered to buy him dinner, although he politely declined, not wanting anything in return.
According to the police report, the incident was not a theft, but instead ‘a lost property’.
Citizens have since been praising the man as his story goes viral, with one writing on social media: "Great that the man who found it didn't keep it! That's how it should be. It's good to know there are people like this man."
Another penned: "Things like this make me smile so much that some humans are still good & honest!"
Kiesha Dosanjh