1/13/2015 - Mayor Finch Recognizes Police Officer Kevin Cronin
"I believe this speaks to the character of our police officers in Bridgeport. Every day, they work hard keeping our kids and families safe." – Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch
Bridgeport, Conn. (Jan. 13, 2015) – Mayor Bill Finch expressed his thanks today to a city police officer who helped reunite a New Jersey woman with $6,300 she left in a shopping cart.
"I believe this speaks to the character of our police officers in Bridgeport. Every day, they work hard keeping our kids and families safe," said Mayor Bill Finch. "I was extremely grateful, but not remotely surprised when, I heard that Officer Cronin brought the wallet to the Fairfield Police Department."
Last week, a woman found a cash-filled wallet outside Whole Foods in Fairfield. That was the bad news. The good news was that the woman who found it is the girlfriend of a Bridgeport police officer.
She called him and Officer Kevin Cronin met her at Bridgeport Police Headquarters. He contacted Fairfield police, took the wallet and turned it over to a Fairfield officer at the town line.
According to Fairfield police, the wallet contained $6,300.
The woman, who lives in New Jersey, was visiting a friend who is a patient at Bridgeport Hospital. Fairfield police returned the wallet to her.
Mayor Finch offered his personal thanks this afternoon.
"We just want to say thank you because there are many times that we may take police officers for granted," said Mayor Finch.
"He is a good man who did the right thing without a second thought," said Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr. "I'm proud to call him a colleague on the Bridgeport Police Department."
If anyone deserved credit, it was his girlfriend, Cronin said. He downplayed the episode, saying he only did what any other police officer would have done.
"I'm glad she got her money back. It's the right thing to do. When you find something that doesn't belong to you, you return it."