Police officer finds $120,000 on a deserted road, returns it

Unnamed officer says find was a 'test of her integrity'

A man who reported the loss of the bags, claiming they were his life savings, was later reunited with them after the proper checks were carried out (REUTERS/Andrew RC Marshall )

A US police officer has been commended for her honesty after she returned a misplaced $120,000 to its rightful owner.

The off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, who asked not to be identified, drove over two bags lying in the middle of the road, which she initially assumed contained rubbish.

But when she stopped in the deserted street to examine the bags, she found that they contained someone’s life savings.

The officer told local television station WTVD-TV that the bags, covered in tyre marks, were a test of her 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.”

“My kids, when I came home, were like,'Mom! What were you thinking?'” she said, explaining that she had difficulty paying the bills.

Opening the bags to see they were full of $100 notes “didn’t feel real”, she added.

A man who reported the loss of the bags, claiming they were his life savings, was later reunited with them after the proper checks were carried out.

California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division Chief Avery Browne praised the officer, said to be a sergeant: “On too many occasions our personnel do not pause to be recognized as they feel they were simply doing their job.”

The incident took place in Concord, California, on Monday night. $120,000 is worth roughly £74,000 at current exchange rates.

There are no details as to how the man ended up leaving his life savings in the middle of the road.