Man Has Honest Answer to a $203,000 Question

For Ascension Franco Gonzales, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who makes $1,300 a month as a dishwasher, it was a chance to prove to himself that he was “an honest man.”

He was sitting alone at a bus stop at Grand Avenue and 7th Street on Monday night when an armored truck belonging to AT Systems rumbled by. As Gonzales watched, a clear plastic bag tumbled out of the back of the truck. The vehicle kept going.

“I knew right away it was real money,” he said later. “They’re the kind of trucks that carry it.”

Gonzales didn’t know how much money; he didn’t even try to count it. But he could see the bundles of $20 bills inside the bag, so he knew it was a lot.

When the truck arrived at the AT Systems office, the people there calculated the loss in a hurry: $203,000, all in cash. They called police.

The 22-year-old dishwasher, fearing that someone might try to kill him for the money, walked several blocks searching through trash cans before he found an opaque sack in which he could hide the transparent bag holding the cash.

“I told myself, ‘My life could be on the line,’ ” he said.

After taking a cab home, Gonzales told friends what he had found. Until he showed them the cash, they didn’t believe him.

“They asked me, ‘Are you going to keep it, or are you going to return it?’ ” he said.

He and about eight friends stayed up talking about what he should do.

“We thought, ‘Well, if I decide to keep it, how would I take the money out of the country? It’s very dangerous,’ ” Gonzales said. “But my friends are good people, and not envious at all. They let the decision be completely mine.”

After he went to bed, Gonzales dreamed about the money and asked himself: “What should I do?”

He admitted that he was tempted to keep the cash, “but there would be too many problems. I couldn’t invest it, could I?” His immigration status complicated the whole thing.

While Gonzales slept on it, Los Angeles police went into action, searching everywhere they could think of.

Responding to a report that someone had seen “three men struggling over a bag” on their way into a skid row hotel, eight officers descended on the place and found nothing. Hours later, police returned with money-sniffing dogs. Again, they found nothing.

One detective even suggested that it might be an inside job.

Asked if they intended to question the armored truck drivers about this possibility, Det. Jim Tiampo said, “Absolutely, they will be questioned.”

When Gonzales awoke Tuesday morning, he turned on his television set. There was a news broadcast on KVEA-TV (Channel 52) about the missing money.

“The announcer asked whether there was anyone in Los Angeles who was honest enough to hand in so much money,” Gonzales said.

When he heard the question, he knew the answer.

“I was brought up in Hildalgo state in an honest Catholic family,” he said.

At 11 a.m., he called police and told them he had the money. Officers, who arrived a few minutes later, said they counted the cash, and all of it was there.

“Every once in a while, you see something like this: a good Samaritan,” said Det. Tiampo, who headed up the search for the money. “I am surprised and pleased.”

Officers told Gonzales that the company had offered a $25,000 reward. Gonzales said he wasn’t sure he would qualify, considering his immigration status.

Police said they thought he would, though the reward might have to be paid in cash instead of with a check because Gonzales has no identification papers.

As for problems with officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, police said they saw no reason to mention anything to them.

“I find it really hard to believe in this day and age that we have someone honest enough to turn in $203,000,” said police Sgt. Rick Sanchez. “He upholds the highest honor of anybody.”

The Hidalgo native came to the United States with one goal: to send back enough money to build a two-story cinder-block house for his parents, who still live in Hidalgo.

His parents “don’t live in misery, but they are humble people” who struggle sometimes. Every four weeks, Gonzales sends $800 of his monthly $1,300 salary back home. The money has paid for an indoor bathroom, telephone service and monthly bills. Most recently, it helped to pay for a cousin’s funeral, Gonzales said.

As far as the $25,000 reward goes, Gonzales, the second-oldest of four, said he will more than likely return to his hometown to build his parents’ house.

“It will be a good home,” he said. “It was the dream I came with, and the promise I made to my parents.”

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Times staff writer Eric Malnic contributed to this story.