Rhami Zeini, 16, was driving home from school when he saw a purse in the middle of the street Wednesday, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.
A California teen has been commended for his honesty after turning in a handbag containing thousands of dollars after finding it on the road.
Rhami Zeini, 16, was driving home from school Wednesday when he saw a purse in the middle of the street, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.
When Zeini, a junior at Laguna Beach High School, picked up the bag and looked inside, he was shocked by what he found: $10,000 in cash.
But instead of pocketing the money, as many would be tempted to do, Zeini immediately went to work trying to find the bag’s owner.
“He got a hold of his parents and they drove to the sheriff’s office and returned the purse with $10,000 dollars inside!” authorities said.
Police were eventually able to reach the purse’s owner, who “was very grateful, as you can imagine,” cops said.
The woman told police she believed she accidentally left the bag on the roof of her car and drove away.
"As a token of appreciation she gave the young man $100 of the cash,” the sheriff's office said. “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."
Zeini apparently felt there was no need to be thanked, saying “he was just doing what he would want someone else to do if he lost something valuable,” officials said.
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