Letter: Returned Wallet Prompts Thanks from Resident

The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Teaneck resident Diane Schwarz:

There are times when I've totally given up on Teaneck still being the wonderful town I chose to live in, but yesterday showed me again that this REALLY is still a GREAT town! 

It started at The Plaza, on Queen Anne, near W. Englewood Ave. I went into Mr. K's to get The Times. I paid the clerk and returned to my car. On the way I checked my bag to see if I'd put my wallet away securely. It wasn't there! I looked around to see if I'd dropped it, but no wallet! I returned to the store, searched around and questioned the clerk & a customer who'd been there. No wallet! I had a dental appointment, so went there quite upset. Though it was pretty bad, my wallet contained only cash (about $100) and supermarket cards. No licenses or credit cards, which would have been really HORRIBLE!

After getting "crowned" at the dentist (BIG money). I returned to Mr. K's to see if the wallet had turned up. No sign of it, but the owner offered to rewind his security cameras so we could see what actually happened and if anyone picked it up. This was not so easy, because the clock on the security camera is not accurate and he had to scan over periods of time until we found the picture of me coming into the store. At last we found it and saw me getting the paper, taking out my wallet and the cash to pay and then seeming to put it back in my bag! It did not drop on the floor. No one bent down to pick anything up on the film! It had just disappeared! He even checked the garbage! He was SO nice to spend the time to check! I had no idea the whole thing was filmed!

When I got home, my phone was blinking with messages. One was from Officer Garcia, from the Teaneck Police Dept. Someone had found my wallet and turned it in to the police! Where? How? I was not told. As I left my house, a police car pulled up and asked for me. He wanted to inform me that my wallet had been found! What service! At the police station, I picked up my wallet with all the cash in it, as it was! "A good samaritan" who lived on Rensselaer Rd. had turned it in.

So, I want to say a BIG Thank You, to the "good samaritan", whoever you are, to Officer Garcia, the policeman who came to my house, the Owner of Mr. K's and the biggest thank you to TEANECK! Yes, we all are neighbors! 

Lots of Love,

Diane Schwarz

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