A 55-year-old homeless man who lost his backpack at the Walmart in Stevenson Ranch is counting his blessings this week after being reunited with his possessions.
The backpack, most likely containing the individual’s livelihood, held a wallet containing his identification and important papers. The backpack was found by Walmart store employees and turned over to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
As part of normal station procedure, a found property report was completed and the case was assigned to Detective Brad Thompson who handles all of the Station’s Found and Lost Property reports.
Through his investigation, Detective Thompson was able to discern that the backpack belonged to a local homeless man. The detective knew that the contents of the backpack possibly could have been the man’s only belongings and he knew how important it was to try to locate him.
Detective Thompson had a B.O.L.O. (Be On the Look Out) flyer designed with the man’s picture and then he proceeded to have the flyer distributed to all station personnel.
Detective Brandon Painter, of the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station Robbery Team received the B.O.L.O. flyer on Tuesday afternoon and set out in his patrol car with a mission- to find the man pictured on the flyer so that this individual could be reunited with his property.
Thinking about the bad weather, Detective Painter’s first stop was at the local homeless shelter, but the man was not there. Not giving up, he continued driving around the streets of Santa Clarita actively searching for the man.
Detective Painter’s persistence soon paid off, for as he was driving down one of the main thoroughfares of Newhall, he spotted a man getting on a bicycle and turning a corner. In the few seconds that he caught a glimpse of him, he noticed that the gray-bearded man was wearing a hat with black sunglasses exactly like the man that was pictured on the B.O.L.O. flyer.
He immediately turned on his patrol car’s colored lights and gently followed the man around the corner to a side street. The man, seemingly unaware that the patrol car was behind him, continued riding his bicycle. In a further attempt to grab the bicyclist’s attention, Detective Painter briefly put on his car’s siren.
Hearing the sound of the car’s siren alerted the man to notice that there was a patrol car behind him. The man stopped on his bicycle, undoubtedly puzzled as to why he was being stopped.
As Detective Painter approached him, he noticed the uncanny resemblance of the man riding the bike and the man on the flyer and at that point, he knew he had found the right person.
He asked the man, “Did you lose a backpack?” The 55-year-old said,” Yes, how did you know?”
The detective proceeded to tell him about how a honest store employee turned his backpack into the Sheriff’s Station and that the backpack was there waiting for him to go pick it.
Despite the rainy weather that day, despite the many dark clouds in the sky, the sun was figuratively shining that day in Santa Clarita. The “day was made brighter for someone else” thanks to the combination of some honest store employees coupled with the teamwork of some diligent detectives.
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27 Comments
How can we get him a nice warm coat, poncho and warm meal? Anyone know where he stays in town
He’s Usually In The Newhall Area I Always See This Guy .. He’s A Nice Guy
Christine Flores do you know where in Newhall?
He always picks up cans from the bins on the Newhall terrace by the DMV around 7 I always see him, he has a bicycle.
You guys are great! I hope you find him!
Every Monday night..he is a guest at our community dinner at Savia. He is a great guy, super funny and LOVES his coffee.
I work at metro pcs in newhall off main st and i park in the back an i always run into him taking cans out of stores trash bins. Im always pulling up to work at like 9:45am an i always see him like he has a schedule
however small his belongings might be still very important
This gentleman is a great person!
❤️
Very cool
:)
Go to .99 store and give him a storage zip lock bag of….Toothpaste, Toothbrush, wash rag, lip balm, deodorant, razor, hard candy, lotion, nail clippers and any other toiletries you can think of..
You can also get him food, Bread, peanut butter, anything canned that has a flip top, protein bars, etc..He would be thrilled..
??
This is the guy I gave T-shirts and socks to and told me that he had plenty Samantha Duran
I am glad for him!.
I wanna start buying cases of dog food so every time I see a dog outside with them I can give the dogs food
Is a big deal cux that back pack had a lot of money
Maybe you should delete this comment. I would hate for the wrong person to know that and try to take it from him. Please don’t be offended by my comment it just was my thought when I read :).
I have the privilege of serving this man every Monday at Savia in Newhall and I am glad to do. It is an honor to serve those who have served this country through military service. Great Job Deputy… I love SCV Sheriffs
Just saw him tonight in the parking lot outside Gogi House. Poor guy was all bundled up but he needs a place to get out of the weather
I’m so glad for him
Michael this is the guy I see almost everyday by us.
Good story to end the week. How he has shelter through this wet season