He was $100 short on rent. Then he stumbled upon $128,514 in cash.
For one North Texas man, the find of a lifetime came on a day when he could barely make ends meet.
Now, newly obtained police body camera video reveals what happened when the 37-year-old barber faced a six-figure temptation — and chose honesty over cash flow.
“Bro, you know what I felt when I seen it? I got scared, bro,” the man told a Lewisville police officer. “I didn’t get excited.”
The discovery happened Aug. 3 at a Bank of America ATM in Lewisville. Police say the man and his 42-year-old friend found two bags left behind, one containing $128,514.
The cash had apparently been forgotten by a Brink’s crew servicing the ATM.
But the man wasn’t looking for a windfall that day. He was looking for enough money to pay his rent.
“I’m arguing with her at the Walmart because I’m short on rent,” he explained to the officer. “Go to the ATM, I’m short 100.”
Then came the money. And the fear.
“Bro, I got scared, man. I started shaking. I’m like, what do I do? I called the laws.”
The man, who asked CBS News Texas not to identify him, told police he has a felony on his record. Instead of taking the cash, he called the authorities and went searching for its rightful owner.
A label on the bag led him to a nearby Chick-fil-A restaurant. The money wasn’t the restaurant’s, but the location offered a clue.
A Lewisville Chick-fil-A owner explained that a nearby business, now operating as Hawaiian Bros, had once been a Chick-fil-A. The ATM apparently still carried the old restaurant’s identification.
The restaurant owner contacted the police.
“Literally, it’s cash,” the caller told a 911 dispatcher.
When an officer arrived, even he struggled to believe the amount.
“When I saw the notes, I was like, you mean $128, right?” Officer J. Nazario recalled.
Although the cash was considered abandoned property, Nazario explained that its identifying labels made clear it belonged to someone.
The temptation wasn’t lost on either man.
“I could have took off today. Spent it in Mexico,” the barber admitted.
Instead, he walked away without a dime of what could have been rent and then some.
“I didn’t take a dollar, bro. I swear to God,” he told the officer.
Bank of America told CBS News Texas it expressed gratitude for the man’s actions, but did not confirm whether he received a financial reward.
The officer, however, made sure the man didn’t leave without something valuable: recognition.
“It takes a lot to do the right thing. And I can’t commend you enough,” the officer said. “Especially, like you said, in this day and age, that’s impressive.”
