Man found $128,514 sitting on an ATM. What he did next stunned the police

Finding a bag of cash on top of an ATM would be an unusual way to start a morning. For a 37-year-old man i n Lewisville, Texas, the discovery on Aug. 3 presented an even bigger question: What do you do when more than $128,000 is suddenly sitting in front of you? His answer was simple. He tried to find the owner.

The man, who local news outlets reported works as a barber, was at a Bank of America ATM in Lewisville, about 30 miles north of Dallas, at around 10 a.m. when he noticed a bag sitting on top of the machine. Inside was an extraordinary amount of cash. There was also a second bag containing 19 checks. Rather than leave with the money, the man began trying to determine where it came from.

He first tried to return the money himself

Information attached to one of the bags appeared to connect the cash to a nearby Chick-fil-A, according to NBC 5 and CBS News Texas, both citing Lewisville police. So the man did what many people might not have expected. He drove to the restaurant.

A manager told him the cash did not belong there. At that point, he could have simply walked away. Instead, he called 911. Lewisville police officers arrived and secured the bags while investigators began determining where the money had come from and who was responsible for it.

The investigation quickly established that this was not an ordinary lost wallet or forgotten purse. It was $128,514 in cash. Police counted the money twice Inside the cash bag, investigators found a bank receipt showing how much money was supposed to be inside.

Police counted the cash twice

They then used a digital currency counter to verify the amount, according to CBS News Texas. The result matched the amount listed on the receipt. $128,514. Not one dollar was missing. The money belonged to Bank of America and was being handled by its cash vendor, Brinks. Investigators believe a Brinks technician had serviced the ATM and accidentally left the cash bag sitting on top of the machine.

Police found no indication that the money was connected to criminal activity. Bank of America subsequently recovered the cash. The man wasn't looking for a reward and didn't ask for money in exchange for returning the cash. He also wasn't apparently looking for publicity.

His identity has not been publicly confirmed, and local reports have described him primarily as a Lewisville barber. Bank of America expressed its gratitude for his actions, according to NBC 5. For Lewisville police, however, the sheer amount of money involved made the incident unlike anything they had previously handled.

Detective Gina Miller said she has dealt with people returning lost wallets, identification and other property. But $128,514 in cash was a different story. “I've never had a case like this before, ever,” Miller said, according to CBS News Texas.