Wallet, $2,016 in cash found on roadside
By STU CLAMPITT
News@ReadTheReporter.com
Atlanta resident and retired Arcadia Street Superintendent John Phifer was driving his wife back from a doctor’s appointment on Nov. 8 when he saw what he thought was a wallet on the side of State Road 37. Because of Phifer’s keen eyesight and kind heart, Noblesville resident Clyde Harber got back not only his wallet, but also $2,016 in cash.
Phifer told The Reporter his wife was initially resistant to the idea of pulling a U-turn on 37, but by the end of their Good Samaritan adventure, she was glad they did.
Phifer found the wallet, which had nothing in it except a note with the owner’s name and phone number, and then he saw all the contents scattered in the ditch.
“I started to throw it back down and get in the truck,” Phifer said, “but I looked up and I started seeing money in the side ditch. It was all just scattered out with cards and everything all down through the side ditch and all down along the area. I started picking up the driver’s license and credit cards and security cards and it was crazy. The wallet was kind of old and worn.”
Phifer told The Reporter his wife got out of their vehicle to help after a few minutes.
“We picked up $2,016 and all of his ID and his cards and charge cards and credit cards and different things he had in there,” Phifer said. “He actually had his name and a phone number on a piece of paper in his wallet. Of course his driver’s license was there to give his address, and I called him up and asked him if he was home.”
Clyde Harber was indeed home, so the Phifers immediately drove to his Noblesville home to return his property.
“He was tickled to death with getting it back,” Phifer said.
Phifer still had Mr. Harber’s phone number, allowing The Reporter to speak to him directly.
“Well, I believe when I got out of my son’s truck, it fell out of my pocket and fell off of the running board of his truck,” Harber said.
Harber, who has lived in Noblesville since 1969, said he was more worried about the cards he’d lost than the money.
“That’s what I was worried about,” Harber said. “I had a bank card in there and all that stuff, driver license and medical cards.”
While the Phifers were able to get over $2,000 back to Mr. Harber, he didn’t care about the money and tried to give the Phifers a reward for their good deed.
“We walked up and down the side ditch for about 30 to 45 minutes looking and picking things up and looked all around,” Phifer said. “He [Clyde Barber] said, ‘To be honest with you he said I could care less for the money. If somebody would have found that and kept that money, all I’m concerned about is getting my cards back.’ He was trying to pay me for returning his stuff to him, and I’m like absolutely not. I don’t want anything for that. I would hope that somebody would do the same thing for me if I was to lose my wallet.”
Phifer told The Reporter he couldn’t have done anything else.
“Me and my wife are both very honest people and like I said, if it would have been one of us losing something, we would hope that whoever would find ours would return it to us,” Phifer said. “We’re not rich or anything, and losing that kind of money would have definitely hit us hard.”
John Phifer retired from the Arcadia Street Department in 2020. He started there in 1979 at the age of 17. Except for a short time living in Tipton, he and his wife have lived in Hamilton County their entire lives, most of it in the town of Atlanta. He attended Hamilton Heights High School and this newspaper thinks he exemplifies the kind of ethics and good will that all Hoosiers should aspire to.
Well done, sir.