The gardener was at his first job of the day near the area of Bristol Street and Memory Lane on Wednesday, police said. He had left about $1,000 in cash in his truck, for his rent, as well as all of his gardening equipment.
[Ads /]
That truck was stolen by two suspects - a man and a woman.
The gardener's phone was in the truck too. So police used a "Find my Phone" tracker to locate the culprits and arrest them in Garden Grove. They were identified as Alan Babauta, 22, and Caroline Nguyen, 31.
The suspects each had $500 in their pockets, but they claimed it was their money and refused to give it back. Also, all of the gardening tools were gone from the truck.
[Ads /]
So, Santa Ana police took up a collection and were able to raise $500 from a handful of officers. Their union also kicked in, providing another $500.
With the money raised, the officers took the gardener to Home Depot, which also pitched in $100 to buy the gardener new tools!