A Texas man stumbled across more than $128,000 in cash after a bag of money was accidentally left sitting on top of a Bank of America ATM.
The 37-year-old Lewisville resident, who works as a barber and has chosen to remain anonymous, made the discovery while visiting the ATM on Aug. 3. Instead of taking the money, he began trying to determine who it belonged to.
The unusual discovery comes as stories of people returning huge amounts of lost cash continue to make headlines, but police said finding this much money without it being connected to criminal activity was particularly rare.
Barber turned over $128,514 to police
The man found a bag containing $128,514 in cash sitting on top of the ATM, along with a smaller bag holding 19 checks.
Lewisville Police Detective Gina Miller said the bag appeared to have simply been forgotten.
“The bag was just sitting there,” Miller said. “It looked like it was just left there by accident.”
Information on one of the bags appeared to connect the money to a nearby Chick-fil-A, prompting the barber to ask the restaurant about it. However, a manager told him the money did not belong to the restaurant.
The man then called 911 and handed everything over to police. When officers counted the cash, they found $128,514, matching the amount listed on a bank receipt inside the bag.
“To find that kind of money, or that amount of money, is certainly rare,” Lewisville Police Chief Brook Rollins said. “And then to not find it connected to any criminal activity is certainly unusual.”
Miller added: “I’ve never had a case like this before, ever.”
Police eventually determined that the money belonged to Bank of America and had accidentally been left behind by workers servicing the ATM. The bank’s cash vendor, Brink’s, had been handling the money.
Brink’s declined to comment on the incident when contacted by local media, citing its policy of not commenting on law enforcement matters involving employee safety.
Rollins praised the barber’s decision to turn over the money, saying the incident highlighted the willingness of people in the community to do the right thing.
“There’s a lot of good people out there that really do want to do good,” he said. “There are more people than just this one person.”
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
