73-year-old Navy vet sends check, apologizes to Florida paper 50 years after stealing racks

Published January 08, 2015

Seventy-three-year-old Navy veteran Bernard Schermerhorn says he's the kind of guy who tries to follow the straight and narrow.

But during some high school hijinks more than 50 years ago, he and a buddy stole several newspaper racks that belonged to The Ledger in Florida.

They kept a handful of change and dumped the stands. Schermerhorn says it's weighed on his conscience over the years and last month he aimed to make it right.

The newspaper reports (http://tinyurl.com/kour7fv ) the former Lakeland resident sent a $200 check and an apology.

He tells the newspaper from his home in La Mesa, California, this week that he just got to thinking about the prank and decided, "Hey, send them the money. It's just not right to not pay it back."

The Ledger (http://tinyurl.com/kour7fv ) says the publisher planned to donate the funds to a group that helps victims of domestic sex trafficking.

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Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), http://www.theledger.com

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/us/73-year-old-navy-vet-sends-check-apologizes-to-florida-paper-50-years-after-stealing-racks