text: SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer is being praised for her integrity after she returned $120,000 to its rightful owner after finding it on the roadside. 
   
   The sergeant, who asked not to be identified in the media, was driving in Concord, Calif., in September when she had to swerve to avoid two large bank deposit bags in the road. She took a U-turn to pick them up and found a large amount of cash equalling more than $120,000. 
   
   She reported the money and the police were able to track down the owner. 
   
   Her friend and children could not believe she returned the money but the officer, who was raised by a single mother in Los Angeles, said it was an opportunity to be an example for her children and teach them a lesson. 
   
   "There was no one on that street after I had come back, nobody would have known," she said. "But that's what determines a person's integrity, it's what you do when nobody is looking." 
   
   The sergeant was praised by her superiors. 
   
   "On too many occasions our personnel do not pause to be recognized as they feel they were simply doing their job." said CHP Golden Gate Division Chief Avery Browne. ||||| By Paul Chambers 
   
   KTVU and Wires 
   
   A man's life savings were recovered after an off-duty California Highway Patrol sergeant found over $120,000 in cash in the middle of a Concord roadway and turned the money over to authorities, CHP officials said Monday. 
   
   While driving in a personal car on Concord Boulevard last month, the sergeant had to swerve around two bank deposit bags in the roadway to avoid hitting them, according to the CHP. 
   
   The sergeant made a U-turn and went to retrieve the two bags, which had tire marks on them, and looked inside to find "a lot of cash," CHP Contra Costa area spokesman John Fransen said. 
   
   CHP officials said the off-duty officer, a 20-year CHP veteran who has asked to remain anonymous, immediately alerted authorities and handed over what amounted to more than $120,000 in cash to Concord police. 
   
   "I thought 'What in the world? This can't be happening,'" the sergeant said in an interview Monday afternoon. 
   
   "It was two bags that said Bank of America and I thought, 'I wonder if it was from some type of bank robbery or something?' I opened it enough just to see there were stacks of $100 bills," the sergeant remembered. 
   
   Police were later able to locate the owner of the lost cash and returned the money to him. The sergeant told KTVU that some people she knew were surprised at her honesty. 
   
   "I have a lot of friends that have said 'What are you thinking? Why did you turn that in? I would take it home,'" said the sergeant. 
   
   CHP Golden Gate Division Chief Avery Browne seized the opportunity to praise the sergeant, noting that, "On too many occasions our personnel do not pause to be recognized as they feel they were simply doing their job."
target: – It could have been easy money. But when an off-duty sergeant with the California Highway Patrol found two bags stuffed with $120,000 in cash, she reported the find instead, reports UPI. The unidentified 20-year veteran says she had to swerve to avoid hitting the bank-deposit bags while driving in a personal car, reports KTVU. She made a U-turn, opened them up, and saw they were packed with $100 bills. Police in Concord were able to track down the owner and say the money turned out to be the life savings of a man who had reported the loss. "There was no one on that street," she tells ABC7. "Nobody would have known. But that's what determines a person's integrity—it's what you do when nobody is looking."