Arlington Father, Son Honored For Turning In Lost Bag Full Of Money

ARLINGTON (CBS) - An Arlington 6-year-old and his father were honored Thursday for bringing a lost bank bag full of cash to the police.

Six-year-old Jasper Dopman and his father Erik were walking along Medford Street in Arlington on April 18 when they spotted a cloth bag lying on the ground. Jasper pointed to the bag and he and his father picked it up off the ground.

When they looked inside the Leader Bank bag, they saw it had $2,000 in cash and deposit slips belonging to the Tenoch Mexican Food Corporation.

The company operates a local Mexican food chain with locations in Medford, Somerville, and Boston.

The boy and his father turned over the bag to Arlington Police who located Guadalupe Alvarez, an employee at the chain's Medford restaurant. Alvarez told police she had lost the bag earlier that day.

Police returned the bag and the contents to the restaurant.

On Thursday, Jasper and Erik met with restaurant owner Alvaro Sandoval, Alvarez, and Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan.

Ryan presented the boy and his father with Outstanding Citizen Awards. Sandoval and Alvarez gave the Dopmans gifts in appreciation for their honesty.

"This situation shows the very definition of good citizenship. Jasper and his dad, Erik, demonstrated what it means to be part of a community by returning missing money to its rightful owner, and Erik imparted an extremely valuable lesson on his son," Ryan said in a statement Friday.

"It is hard to imagine the panic and fear that sets in when someone loses a large amount of money for their employer. Jasper and Erik did the right thing, and I commend their actions in returning the missing money," Ryan said.

Six-year-old Jasper goes to Thompson Elementary School, the same school attended by Sandoval's son.