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Returning $140,000 he found pays off in goodwill for landscaper
By Tracy Manzer, Staff writer
More than $140,000 was dropped by a Brinks armored car onto a Cerritos street. (Long Beach Police Department)
Eli Estrada is reaping the fotunes of good will after returning $140,000 he found in the street.
LONG BEACH - Just about everybody has decided: Eli Estrada is a good guy.
The Los Angeles resident, who impressed and shocked local police when he turned in more than $140,000 cash he found laying in the street last month, is also now a minor celebrity.
Press-Telegram readers from across the country responded in a huge way to the article about Estrada that ran in Wednesday's paper and was posted online.
Web comments praising the 40-year-old's integrity came flooding in from Los Angeles and Orange counties, and from states including Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.
In the article, Estrada admitted he struggled mightily with the decision of whether to keep the cash - all unmarked $20 bills and therefore untraceable - that had been accidentally left on the bumper of a Brinks Security truck that picked up the cash on March 11 from the Bank of America branch in
Cerritos and was bound for ATMS across the city. The bag later fell off the bumper as the truck rounded a corner.
There was a time in his youth, when he was in trouble, nearly homeless and extremely desperate, when he would have kept the cash, he admitted.
Estrada and his business partner, who have been working hard to keep their fledgling landscaping and artificial grass business going, debated all the way as they drove to a job site.
But in the end, Estrada's conscience won out, and he turned the bag of money over to Long Beach Police after arriving at his clients' home.
He had planned to tell the couple he had to run to the police station and would be right back, but his clients - both Long Beach police officers - took care of that for him.
"She said, 'You're forgetting something, we are the police,"' he said, laughing as he recounted the tale Tuesday.
East Division Patrol Officer Russell Peterson said he was impressed by Estrada's honesty and the fact that the 40-year- old never asked for a reward or any special treatment.
News of his good deed, however, sparked a demand from many in the region Wednesday who said they want his business information so that they can hire him. It also resulted in Estrada being contacted by several TV and radio stations, as well as other newspapers.
"Someone from Seal Beach called me saying they wanted to hire me to do a job after they saw the story in the Press-Telegram," he said. "I guess if you do something good it does come back to you."
For all those who asked, Estrada can be reached at his home-run business, Tuff Turf of Orange County, at 714-342-8873 or e-mailed at ttorange@tuffturfinc.com.
Returning $140,000 he found pays off in goodwill for landscaper
By Tracy Manzer, Staff writer
More than $140,000 was dropped by a Brinks armored car onto a Cerritos street. (Long Beach Police Department)
Eli Estrada is reaping the fotunes of good will after returning $140,000 he found in the street.
LONG BEACH - Just about everybody has decided: Eli Estrada is a good guy.
The Los Angeles resident, who impressed and shocked local police when he turned in more than $140,000 cash he found laying in the street last month, is also now a minor celebrity.
Press-Telegram readers from across the country responded in a huge way to the article about Estrada that ran in Wednesday's paper and was posted online.
Web comments praising the 40-year-old's integrity came flooding in from Los Angeles and Orange counties, and from states including Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.
In the article, Estrada admitted he struggled mightily with the decision of whether to keep the cash - all unmarked $20 bills and therefore untraceable - that had been accidentally left on the bumper of a Brinks Security truck that picked up the cash on March 11 from the Bank of America branch in
Cerritos and was bound for ATMS across the city. The bag later fell off the bumper as the truck rounded a corner.
There was a time in his youth, when he was in trouble, nearly homeless and extremely desperate, when he would have kept the cash, he admitted.
Estrada and his business partner, who have been working hard to keep their fledgling landscaping and artificial grass business going, debated all the way as they drove to a job site.
But in the end, Estrada's conscience won out, and he turned the bag of money over to Long Beach Police after arriving at his clients' home.
He had planned to tell the couple he had to run to the police station and would be right back, but his clients - both Long Beach police officers - took care of that for him.
"She said, 'You're forgetting something, we are the police,"' he said, laughing as he recounted the tale Tuesday.
East Division Patrol Officer Russell Peterson said he was impressed by Estrada's honesty and the fact that the 40-year- old never asked for a reward or any special treatment.
News of his good deed, however, sparked a demand from many in the region Wednesday who said they want his business information so that they can hire him. It also resulted in Estrada being contacted by several TV and radio stations, as well as other newspapers.
"Someone from Seal Beach called me saying they wanted to hire me to do a job after they saw the story in the Press-Telegram," he said. "I guess if you do something good it does come back to you."
For all those who asked, Estrada can be reached at his home-run business, Tuff Turf of Orange County, at 714-342-8873 or e-mailed at ttorange@tuffturfinc.com.
