What would you do if you find $80,000?
11-Dec-2008, 01:51 AM
#1
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What would you do if you find $80,000?
Bus driver returns $80,000 Brinks bag
Rick Bazinet Jr. says the stash would have made for a memorable Christmas, 'but it wasn't mine'
By JOE BELANGER
The London Free Press
LONDON -- Yes, it was tempting -- but bus driver Rick Bazinet knew all along what he'd do with the bag of $80,000 he found at a London Tim Hortons.
He gave it back.
"In hindsight, I guess it would have been nice to have. And Christmas sure would have been great, but it wasn't mine," Bazinet, 34, said yesterday, a day after finding the Brinks bag as he stopped on his London Transit route for a coffee and washroom break.
"That's the way I was brought up and it's what I teach my children," he said of turning over the bag filled with "bricks" of $20 bills.
"But I'm sure some people might have wanted to keep it," Bazinet said. It was about 10:35 p.m. when Bazinet, a 10-year driver, made his regular stop at the Esso gas station at the corner of Highbury Avenue and Hamilton Road and ran inside to grab a Tim Hortons coffee and visit the washroom.
The bag of neatly wrapped $20 bills was sitting on a counter, just outside the washroom.
"I saw it and I thought, 'My God!' " said Bazinet, a married father of three children ages three months, and five and six years.
"I could feel the bricks of money in it," he said.
Bazinet said he suspects the bag was left behind by Brinks guards filling the ATM in the store a little earlier.
"So, I told the clerk behind the counter and she called Brinks, but just got a voice recording. She was going to call police, but then the other girl looked across the street and saw the Brinks truck at the Tim Hortons across the street and went over and told them. I wasn't there, but they told me later he (the driver) was a bit panicked."
Esso clerk Lisa Pearson said the driver "was freaking out, anxious and out of breath.
"There were four of us in the store -- we could have gotten $20,000 each. I will always have that (what if) question, but at the same time, we knew we couldn't keep it. It wasn't ours."
Pearson said she asked the Brinks employee about a reward and he replied that he would buy them a coffee.
A Brinks spokesperson in London couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Larry Ducharme, general manager of the LTC, was clearly proud of the driver.
"Rick's a good guy," he said. "It's about doing the right thing and we're appreciative of what he's done and I'm sure Brink's is, too."
Though Bazinet doesn't regret giving the money back, his wife, Tina, well . . . she couldn't resist a little teasing.
"She said, 'Do you know what we could have done with that money!' " he laughed. "She said I'm nuts."
Jr. found a bag with $80,000 at a Tim Hortons outlet at the corner of Highbury Avenue and Hamilton Road in London. (Sue Reeve, Sun Media)
Rick Bazinet Jr. says the stash would have made for a memorable Christmas, 'but it wasn't mine'
By JOE BELANGER
The London Free Press
LONDON -- Yes, it was tempting -- but bus driver Rick Bazinet knew all along what he'd do with the bag of $80,000 he found at a London Tim Hortons.
He gave it back.
"In hindsight, I guess it would have been nice to have. And Christmas sure would have been great, but it wasn't mine," Bazinet, 34, said yesterday, a day after finding the Brinks bag as he stopped on his London Transit route for a coffee and washroom break.
"That's the way I was brought up and it's what I teach my children," he said of turning over the bag filled with "bricks" of $20 bills.
"But I'm sure some people might have wanted to keep it," Bazinet said. It was about 10:35 p.m. when Bazinet, a 10-year driver, made his regular stop at the Esso gas station at the corner of Highbury Avenue and Hamilton Road and ran inside to grab a Tim Hortons coffee and visit the washroom.
The bag of neatly wrapped $20 bills was sitting on a counter, just outside the washroom.
"I saw it and I thought, 'My God!' " said Bazinet, a married father of three children ages three months, and five and six years.
"I could feel the bricks of money in it," he said.
Bazinet said he suspects the bag was left behind by Brinks guards filling the ATM in the store a little earlier.
"So, I told the clerk behind the counter and she called Brinks, but just got a voice recording. She was going to call police, but then the other girl looked across the street and saw the Brinks truck at the Tim Hortons across the street and went over and told them. I wasn't there, but they told me later he (the driver) was a bit panicked."
Esso clerk Lisa Pearson said the driver "was freaking out, anxious and out of breath.
"There were four of us in the store -- we could have gotten $20,000 each. I will always have that (what if) question, but at the same time, we knew we couldn't keep it. It wasn't ours."
Pearson said she asked the Brinks employee about a reward and he replied that he would buy them a coffee.
A Brinks spokesperson in London couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Larry Ducharme, general manager of the LTC, was clearly proud of the driver.
"Rick's a good guy," he said. "It's about doing the right thing and we're appreciative of what he's done and I'm sure Brink's is, too."
Though Bazinet doesn't regret giving the money back, his wife, Tina, well . . . she couldn't resist a little teasing.
"She said, 'Do you know what we could have done with that money!' " he laughed. "She said I'm nuts."
Jr. found a bag with $80,000 at a Tim Hortons outlet at the corner of Highbury Avenue and Hamilton Road in London. (Sue Reeve, Sun Media)
11-Dec-2008, 09:30 AM
#3
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we all would have and anybody that says they wouldn't is a pansie!
I think the media makes these stories up in order to boost everyones moral and honesty. No real person would return free money left behind somewhere, If that much is left behind somewhere, then the person can afford it and won't miss it
I think the media makes these stories up in order to boost everyones moral and honesty. No real person would return free money left behind somewhere, If that much is left behind somewhere, then the person can afford it and won't miss it
11-Dec-2008, 11:31 AM
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Average Joe: "I feel more confident in humanity already!"
14-Dec-2008, 04:24 PM
#12
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Again, there is a town called London in the province of Ontario, Canada.
Here is the actual address & phone# of that Tim Horton's:
120 Highbury Ave
London, ON, Canada
+1 (519) 457 - 7647
It's located near the intersection of Highbury Avenue North & Hamilton Road.
Here is the actual address & phone# of that Tim Horton's:
120 Highbury Ave
London, ON, Canada
+1 (519) 457 - 7647
It's located near the intersection of Highbury Avenue North & Hamilton Road.
Last edited by TroubEL; 14-Dec-2008 at 04:26 PM.
14-Dec-2008, 04:40 PM
#13
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Location: Scarborough
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A girl dropped a fin in front of me at the line up of a grocery store. I picked it up and returned it and she thanked me like 3 times. It's very rewarding.
Hahaha. People gotta get out of their houses.
Hahaha. People gotta get out of their houses.
