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Ronan boys find wallet, do the right thing

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RONAN — They could have spent it on X-boxes, hats, basketballs, or new bikes, but when two 11-year-old boys found $160 lying on the streets of Ronan they didn’t flinch when it came to doing the right thing. 

Ronan Middle School students Ivan Pepion and Josiah Alexander rode their bikes past Town Pump on June 12 and found what most kids their age would have considered a treasure trove — a wallet with a wad full of cash in the money clip, presumed to have been dropped by a 70-year-old California man. 

“It wasn’t even on the inside,” Josiah said of how easy it could have been to take the cash. “It was on the outside.” 

The pair pocketed the wallet and immediately went and turned it into adults at the Ronan Liquor Store, who contacted Ronan Police Department. 

“It felt good to turn it in,” Ivan said. 

Officer James Garcia was impressed with the boys’ good deed.

“Not everyone would have done that,” Garcia said. 

They didn’t tell the liquor store clerk their names, and they didn’t want any credit for doing the right thing. Garcia eventually identified the boys through security camera footage from the liquor store. 

Josiah’s mother, Adeline Lozeau, said she was happy when she found out what the youngsters had done. 

“It was glad that he did that and didn’t take the money and that they were honest,” Lozeau said. 

Both boys agreed: it isn’t their place to take other people’s hard earned money. 

Garcia said the police department is trying to think of a way to reward the boys. In the meantime, the two do-gooders are spending their summer days being boys: playing basketball and riding bikes.

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