Young Latino Finds $135,000 Near Wells Fargo ATM And Immediately Called The Cops
A young man in Albuquerque, New Mexico is being celebrated for his honesty. The man found a large sum of money abandoned by a Wells Fargo ATM on a Sunday. Instead of keeping the money for himself, the man called the police to turn in the money.
Jose Nuñez Romaniz found $135,000 abandoned in Albuquerque, New Mexico and didn’t keep it.
According to CNN, the 19-year-old was going to buy socks for his grandfather and needed to deposit money in his account for the online order. When he arrived at the Wells Fargo ATM, he noticed a clear plastic bag with cash in it. Nuñez Romaniz reportedly hesitated when he saw the cash concerned he might be getting set up for something bad.
The bank was closed so Nuñez Romaniz did the best thing he could think of: call the police.
“My parents always taught me to work for my own. Stolen money would never last you any time,” Nuñez Romaniz told CNN.
He added: “I had my mom’s voice and her chancla in the back of my head,” Nuñez said.
The Albuquerque Police Department was impressed with the young Latino’s selfless action and rewarded his integrity.
“This money could have made an incredible amount of difference in his life if he went down the other path, but he chose … the integrity path and did the right thing,” Officer Simon Drobik, a spokesman for the Albuquerque police, told CNN.
Nuñez Romaniz is currently in college studying criminology.
Nuñez Romaniz is a student at Central New Mexico Community College and is studying criminology, which makes his actions more understandable. His actions have so impressed the people of Albuquerque that he was kind of given an invitation to become a police officer.
“Whether you can believe that it is divine, or it’s good luck or whatever, we were just talking about how – the irony that his career is so far leaning towards criminal justice, and he happens to be looking for a job, and we happen to be hiring,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller told a crowd at a press conference.
Nuñez Romaniz is being hailed as a role model and a good example of community good.
Albuquerque Police Chief Mike Geier celebrated the young man. The police chief isn’t just impressed with Nuñez Romaniz’s honesty. Chief Geier is crediting the young man as restoring his faith in the community. It isn’t every day you come across $135,000 unattended.
In honor of his actions, the Public Service of New Mexico awarded the man $500 to use towards his education. El Patron offered him a gift card and $500 and ESPN radio gifted the family season tickets to the University of New Mexico Lobo football season.
