The 40-year-old Highland Park man's first thought was: "I'm rich." But he immediately decided to turn in his find. The money would go a long way, he thought, but keeping it would be wrong. "That's just your first reaction," Estrada said, "but it's not yours and you feel nervous and you feel like you did something wrong, even though you didn't."
It's not that he didn't need it. About six months ago, Estrada opened a landscaping and artificial-grass business, Tuff Turf, and is in debt. He said his child support payments are tough to make and he supports his mother, who moved in with him last year after she lost her house to a fumbled refinancing plan and declared bankruptcy.
Estrada found the bag of money the morning of March 11. He and another Tuff Turf employee who was with him then drove to a landscaping job in Long Beach. Being with the cash was "a weird feeling," Estrada said. "It's not like you would expect it, it's surreal." By chance, Estrada's Long Beach clients worked for police. Estrada told them he wanted to turn the money in, and they called the Long Beach Police Department. Estrada said he was content with his decision, though admitted "it was hard to give up."
Authorities said the money was lost by Brinks armored truck drivers. Long Beach police spokeswoman Dina Zapalski said she had never heard of someone turning in so much cash. "I've had people come to me with purses and wallets with cash in it and they'll turn it in," Zapalski said. "But not like this. Zapalski said officers were surprised that Estrada didn't ask for a reward. Instead, he went right back to work. Estrada's mother, Rosa Estrada, said her son had always been nervous about doing something unethical or illegal. This time was no different even though "he needs the money," she said.
"He was very nervous; he said he wouldn't be able to sleep" if he didn't turn it in, she said. Brinks later gave Estrada $2,000 for turning in the money. His mother smiled and said, "They should have given him 10%."
It was a tempting sight for struggling landscaper Eli Estrada: a bag filled with $140,000 on a Cerritos street.There was his credit card debt, upcoming wedding and making ends meet with his artificial grass and landscaping business. But turning it over to Long Beach police last month was the right thing to do, he said. The 40-year-old Estrada admits that some days "I think I was nuts," but he adds, "I know in my gut that to keep that money would be wrong."
The Bank of America money bag was lost March 11 by Brinks Armored truck drivers. The unmarked $20 bills were bundled into wads of $20,000 and bound for ATMs.
Long Beach police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said Estrada handed over the money bag to an officer who took a report at one of the landscaper's job sites. Zapalski said she had never heard of someone turning in so much cash. "I've had people come to me with purses and wallets with cash in it and they'll turn it in," Zapalski told the Los Angeles Times. "But not like this." Brinks later gave him a $2,000 reward.
"They should have given him 10 percent," Estrada's mother told the Times.
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