Man hands police $3,000 he found outside coffee shop

TARRYTOWN, New York -- A man who ventured out for coffee on Christmas Eve found something else instead.

Jeff Wiedemann was running errands when he got the hankering for a cup of joe from his favorite shop, Coffee Labs Roasters, in New York.

But on the way there, he found some cold, hard cash-and a lot of it: $3,000, to be exact.

"There was an envelope with a giant wad of cash hanging out of the side of it," Wiedemann told News 12 Westchester.

As it turns out, the money belonged to the owner of the coffee shop, who accidentally dropped the envelope while on his way to make a big bank deposit.

"Good amount of coffee, when all you sell is cups of coffee," owner Mike Love said.

The money was found in a bag, lying on the street. Someone could have easily plucked up the cash and spent it on Christmas presents, but Wiedemann had other plans.

He took it to the police station instead.

"Got a call from the local police, 'Hey Mike, did you lose something?'" Love said.

The coffee shop owner said for a small business, Wiedemann's gesture was overwhelming.

"It's just being a good human being," Love said.

"I don't think it really matters that today is Christmas," Wiedemann said. "I would have done the same thing on any other day, and I'm sure anyone in town would have done the same thing on any other day."

Love said he hopes to meet the good Samaritan and repay him with what he likes best.

"He might get a coffee or something to that effect," Love said.