Woman’s honesty lauded

Andy Holtmann

Friday, May 30, 1997 | 11:44 a.m.

Laura Richard of Las Vegas earned her good Samaritan stripes when she turned in a Wells Fargo money bag loaded with cash and checks.

Richard found the money Tuesday at a Lucky grocery store. A casino cage worker at the Excalibur hotel-casino for the past seven years, she immediately recognized the bag and turned it in to the store manager.

"We had finished our shopping, and I was buying some stickers for my daughter by the checkout line," Richard said. "When I bent over to pick up the stickers, I saw the bag next to the ATM machine."

A driver from an unidentified armored transport service accidentally left the bag by the ATM. When he realized the mistake, he rushed back to the store to retrieve the bag, which Richard had given to store personnel.

According to Dennis Herzog, vice president of security for Wells Fargo Bank, the bag contained a mix of cash and checks ready for deposit.

"Laura saved us and many of our customers a big hassle when she turned in the bag," Herzog said. "Because it was a deposit bag, all of those accounts would have been negatively impacted had she not turned it in."

Herzog happened to be in Las Vegas during the incident. When he heard of what Richard had done, he paid her a visit at the Excalibur. He presented her with a commemorative badge on behalf of Wells Fargo in honor of her integrity.

Herzog said two similar incidents involving armored transports occurred recently in California.

In Oakland, an armored car dropped a bag containing hundreds of thousands of dollars onto a highway. The cash prompted passers-by to snatch up the money as soon as it hit the street. Very little was recovered.

Less than a week ago, an armored car lost a bag on a highway in Orange County. A passing highway patrolman began arresting individuals who were trying to run away with the money.

"The idea of armored transports losing money is not uncommon," Herzog said. "What is puzzling, though, is the way they lose money. In many cases it would almost indicate something more than accident."

Although the dollar amount in the bag was unknown, Richard said it was indeed substantial.

"I could feel there were a lot of 100 dollar bundles in that bag," she said. "Having worked in the (casino) cage for so long, I could tell by the width of the wraps around the bills. There were a lot of bundles in the bag."

The temptation might have been great to keep the money, but Richard chose to do what she felt was best.

"I held it in my lap and just kept thinking, 'House, new car. Hell, prison.' Then I turned it in."