Cop Helps Return Diamond Engagement Ring to Bride-to-Be
The bride-to-be lost the ring at a Los Angeles-area gas station
— -- A California police officer who went beyond the call of duty was able to return a lost engagement ring to a bride-to-be.
The bride-to-be, Miriam Castellanos, lost her ring Saturday morning while pumping gas at a Costco in Hawthorne, California.
Later that day, a stranger, Denise Wood, spotted the ring on the ground and took it straight to police in the neighboring town of El Segundo.
“She said she almost thought it was fake,” El Segundo police Lt. Jaime Bermudez told ABC News.
Bermudez’s colleague, Officer Ken Cheng, was the officer on duty who got the call to pick up the diamond ring from Wood and bring it in to the station. Normally, when an item of value is turned in to the department, it is held and if not claimed, put up for auction, according to Bermudez.
On his way into the station, Cheng remembered there was a jewelry store across the street and decided to take it in for a look, he told ABC News.
“At first I wasn’t sure if it was real because the diamond was kind of big,” Cheng said. “The store was pretty busy so I waited patiently and people were looking at me because I was in full uniform.”
When Cheng, a 12-year veteran of the force, brought the ring to a store employee, he learned the diamond was real and of high-value because of its size, cut and clarity.
The sharp-eyed store employee also noticed that the diamond ring had a serial number on its side.
It was through that serial number that Cheng and his colleagues were able to track the diamond down to Castellanos’ fiancé, Edgar Macias.
“On Monday our detectives called and found out the ring was manufactured in New York,” Bermudez said. "They called the New York number and it turned out they had sold the ring to someone in Los Angeles and that was Edgar.”
“We followed up with Edgar and he said, ‘That is my ring and my fiancé just lost it,” Bermudez said. “They couldn’t believe it.”
The couple came to the police station on Monday to reclaim their ring.
“They came by and showed all the certification and receipts and got the diamond ring back,” Bermudez said.
Cheng works weekend duty so said he has not yet had the chance to speak with Castellanos or Macias.
The couple, who could not be reached today, told KABC in Los Angeles that they plan to follow up to thank both Cheng and Denise Wood, the woman who originally found the ring.
"I'm really thankful for them putting in the time and going out of their way. They didn't have to do that," Macias told KABC.
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