Las Vegas Cab Driver Returns $300K To Poker Player
A Las Vegas cab driver who discovered $300,000 in the backseat of his car didn’t think twice about returning the missing money to its rightful owner.
Gerardo Gamboa thought someone left a bag of chocolate in his cab at some point Monday. Upon closer inspection, the cab driver discovered that the bag contained approximately $300,000 in cash. Instead of keeping the money for himself, Gamboa started searching for the unidentified poker player who left it behind.
“I don’t care from $10 to higher. My dignity is not for sale, and that’s the way I am. That’s the way our parents taught us when I was a kid,” the Las Vegas cab driver told KVVU.
Gerardo Gamboa continued, “All I wanted to do was just call my dispatcher and return it, and this is the only chance I have to show cab drivers in Las Vegas are not bad people.”
After bringing the cash to the Yellow Checker Star Transportation headquarters, Las Vegas police and a casino helped Gamboa track down the guy who failed to take the significant wad of cash with him. The company said that the man was so distraught about losing the money that he considered suicide.
“He was grateful. He was very understanding; he wasn’t irritated. To a point he was irritated, but he wasn’t mad or aggressive or anything. Maybe a little more embarrassed than anything. I mean, he left $300,000 in a cab, but he was an awesome guy,” Yellow Checker Star’s Joel Willden explained.
The Las Vegas cab driver’s good deed didn’t go unnoticed. Not only did the company declare Gamboa as driver of the year, he also received a check for $1,000. Yellow Checker Star gave the guy a free steak dinner for two, as well.
A company spokesperson said everyone involved took special care finding the rightful owner. Since so many folks could easily crawl out of the woodwork in hopes of scoring free money, they didn’t hand the bag to the first person who set foot through the front door.
“We had to be as a company extremely cautious that the right person got the money. It’s the Christmas season and we think it’s the best story that I’ve seen in 32 years, and cab drivers worldwide are going to be very proud,” CEO Bill Shranko explained.
At the end of the day, the Las Vegas cab driver said he did the “right thing” by returning the money to the poker player. Although Gamboa said he wasn’t looking for any compensation for his act, the grateful man is reportedly considering giving the driver a substantial reward.
[Image via Wikimedia Commons]
