Arlington boy ‘does right thing’ for restaurant
Turns in lost cash bag to police
A 6-year-old Arlington boy who found a bank bag full of cash while out for a walk with his father is being praised for “doing the right thing” and turning the money over to police, who returned the money to the owner of a local Mexican restaurant whose 7-year-old son turned out to be one of the little boy’s classmates.
Jasper Dopman was taking a stroll down Medford Street earlier this month with his father, Erik, when he spotted a cloth Leader Bank cash bag laying on the ground, Arlington police Chief Frederick Ryan said. After Jasper’s dad called police to report finding the bag — which contained $2,000 and deposit slips from the bank — Ryan said investigators found out it belonged to Tenoch Mexican Food Corp., a family-owned company with locations in Medford, Somerville and Boston.
“What the kid did, it’s unbelievable,” Tenoch owner Alvaro Sandoval told the Herald last night. “It’s great to use as an example of how to be a good citizen.”
Sandoval said he was working in the restaurant’s food truck outside South Station April 18 when his sisterin-law, Guadalupe Alvarez, frantically called to tell him she had lost the bag.
Hours later, Sandoval said he received a call from the police who were happy to report that one of Sandoval’s son’s Thompson Elementary School classmates turned it in.
“It’s a great lesson for anybody,” Sandoval said. “It’s good for the kid, good for the future. ... It’s a good lesson for my son and for a lot of kids.”
In recognition of their good deed, Arlington cops presented Jasper and his dad with Outstanding Citizen Awards Thursday. The Dopmans also received gifts from the restaurateurs.
“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. “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.”