High school student 'does right thing' after finding $14,000
A teenager has been praised for “doing the right thing” and handing over a handbag he found to police, containing $14,000 cash (US$10,000).
Rhami Zeini, 16, was heading home from school by himself Wednesday last week when he saw the black bag on the road.
When the schoolboy from Laguna Blanca, in Santa Barbara, California, took a look inside to see if he could find some information to contact the owner, he discovered more money than he had ever seen in his life.
The shocked youngster then contacted his parents, who drove him to the local police station to hand in the bag with the $14,000 dollars inside.
Rhami told officers he was just doing what he would want someone else to do if he lost something valuable.
“To me, I figured this is the right thing to do if I take it and find who’s purse it was, because if the roles were reversed and I lost something with a significant sum of money, I know I would want it back for sure,” he told CNN.
“I feel if everyone did the right thing, the world would be a better place.”
Sharing the story to Facebook, Santa Barbara police said the act was a welcome story “in a world where we are bombarded with bad news”.
“Our Watch Officer was able to contact the owner who was very grateful, as you can imagine, to have the purse returned.
“She believes she left it on the roof of her car when she drove away,” a police spokesperson reported.
As a token of appreciation the owner of the bag gave the student a reward of $140 (US$100) of the cash.
“Thank you Rhami for doing so many things right from observing the purse in the first place, stopping to get it, contacting your parents for help and for turning it in,” the police said in the post.
