Scout’s Honor Shows When He Finds $400

When Erik Turley, riding his bike home from a Boy Scout meeting, found $400 in cash lying on a Walnut street his first instinct was to do the right thing.

The 12-year-old sped straight home Monday afternoon, burst through the door and said, “Mom, you have to take me to the sheriff’s station so I can turn it in!” said his mother, Ann Turley.

Erik’s honesty paid off. A sixth-grader at Suzanne Middle School, he received standing ovations and cheers in all his classes, plus three awards from the school, including a $5 gift certificate to a local restaurant of his choosing.

And television and news radio crews showed up to interview him. “He’s basking in glory,” Ann Turley said. “He just loved it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I told him.”

The Walnut Sheriff’s Station, where Erik turned the money in, has received dozens of calls from people claiming they lost $400, but none has described the denomination of the bills correctly, Sgt. Marvin Tegtmeier said. Erik found the money at 5:30 p.m. as he rode through the intersection of La Puente and Pierre roads.

If the rightful owner doesn’t claim the money in 90 days, the department will put a notice in the newspaper. If there is no response within a week, the money will go to Erik, Tegtmeier said.

Erik’s hoping, his mother said. He already has his eye on a $150 remote-control car.