By Paul Chambers 
 
 KTVU and Wires 
 
 A man's life savings were recovered after an off-duty California Highway Patrol sergeant found over $120,000 in cash in the middle of a Concord roadway and turned the money over to authorities, CHP officials said Monday. 
 
 While driving in a personal car on Concord Boulevard last month, the sergeant had to swerve around two bank deposit bags in the roadway to avoid hitting them, according to the CHP. 
 
 The sergeant made a U-turn and went to retrieve the two bags, which had tire marks on them, and looked inside to find "a lot of cash," CHP Contra Costa area spokesman John Fransen said. 
 
 CHP officials said the off-duty officer, a 20-year CHP veteran who has asked to remain anonymous, immediately alerted authorities and handed over what amounted to more than $120,000 in cash to Concord police. 
 
 "I thought 'What in the world? This can't be happening,'" the sergeant said in an interview Monday afternoon. 
 
 "It was two bags that said Bank of America and I thought, 'I wonder if it was from some type of bank robbery or something?' I opened it enough just to see there were stacks of $100 bills," the sergeant remembered. 
 
 Police were later able to locate the owner of the lost cash and returned the money to him. The sergeant told KTVU that some people she knew were surprised at her honesty. 
 
 "I have a lot of friends that have said 'What are you thinking? Why did you turn that in? I would take it home,'" said the sergeant. 
 
 CHP Golden Gate Division Chief Avery Browne seized the opportunity to praise the sergeant, noting that, "On too many occasions our personnel do not pause to be recognized as they feel they were simply doing their job." ||||| SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer is being praised for her integrity after she returned $120,000 to its rightful owner after finding it on the roadside. 
 
 The sergeant, who asked not to be identified in the media, was driving in Concord, Calif., in September when she had to swerve to avoid two large bank deposit bags in the road. She took a U-turn to pick them up and found a large amount of cash equalling more than $120,000. 
 
 She reported the money and the police were able to track down the owner. 
 
 Her friend and children could not believe she returned the money but the officer, who was raised by a single mother in Los Angeles, said it was an opportunity to be an example for her children and teach them a lesson. 
 
 "There was no one on that street after I had come back, nobody would have known," she said. "But that's what determines a person's integrity, it's what you do when nobody is looking." 
 
 The sergeant was praised by her superiors. 
 
 "On too many occasions our personnel do not pause to be recognized as they feel they were simply doing their job." said CHP Golden Gate Division Chief Avery Browne. ||||| Jake Bowers was driving down East Wilson Bridge Road on April 8 with his wife, Tara, and their children when he noticed a “blue felt bag” on the side of the street. 
 
 A Worthington man said he and his family simply “wanted to make the world right for someone” when they turned in a small fortune to police after finding a bag of money on the ground earlier this month. 
 
 As first reported by the ThisWeek Worthington News, Jake Bowers was driving down East Wilson Bridge Road on April 8 with his wife, Tara, and their children when he noticed a “blue felt bag” on the side of the street, just west of Worthington Galena Road. 
 
 Thinking he might have found someone’s missing laptop or tablet, Bowers pulled over. 
 
 “Out of curiosity – What’s this? It was kind of large – we checked it out,” he said. “We grabbed it and opened it, and there was somebody’s wallet with some identification and some envelopes that were stuffed with hundred-dollar bills.” 
 
 Bowers, 43, was not exaggerating when he said the envelopes were stuffed. The wallet contained 140 $100 bills, $14,000 in total. 
 
 “It was like, ‘Oh wow. That’s a lot of money,’ ” he said. 
 
 Without much hesitation, Bowers took the money to the Worthington Division of Police station. 
 
 He said he and his family made a few jokes, but they never considered keeping it. 
 
 “There wasn’t really much discussion about it,” he said. “We were down the street from the police station and we happened to be driving that way anyway. So the discussion was pretty much, ‘This is someone’s money. We need to turn it in.’ ” 
 
 Sgt. James Moran of the Worthington Division of Police said although “a case could be made” that not turning the money in would have been illegal, it still was shocking to see $14,000 come through the door. 
 
 “At least for us, we don’t get cash like that turned in very often,” he said with a laugh. 
 
 Police determined the money belonged to a man from Marion who had driven to Worthington to buy a car in cash. 
 
 When he decided not to purchase the vehicle, he left his bag on top of his car as he pulled away. 
 
 ThisWeek was not able to reach the man for comment, but Worthington police confirmed the money was returned to him. 
 
 Bowers said the $14,000 was the most money he ever had seen at once, “let alone held,” and it would have gone a long way toward paying off some car loans and a bit of debt from his recent move to Worthington. 
 
 However, he said, he thought of how that much money had the “potential to absolutely ruin” someone’s personal finances. 
 
 “We had the opportunity to help restore someone’s faith in humanity,” Bowers said. “It’s not often when something like that happens to you that you’re going to see that money back. But it felt good to know we could do the right thing and potentially make a difference in someone’s life.” 
 
 aking@thisweeknews.com 
 
 @ThisWeekAndrew
– It could have been easy money. But when an off-duty sergeant with the California Highway Patrol found two bags stuffed with $120,000 in cash, she reported the find instead, reports UPI. The unidentified 20-year veteran says she had to swerve to avoid hitting the bank-deposit bags while driving in a personal car, reports KTVU. She made a U-turn, opened them up, and saw they were packed with $100 bills. Police in Concord were able to track down the owner and say the money turned out to be the life savings of a man who had reported the loss. "There was no one on that street," she tells ABC7. "Nobody would have known. But that's what determines a person's integrity—it's what you do when nobody is looking."