Good Samaritan goes out of his way to return teen's wallet, melts hearts

PHILADELPHIA, PA (WTXF) - A teen left her wallet on a SEPTA bus with cash, debit cards and all her forms of identification. Only 16 years old, she was visibly upset facing the reality of reapplying for everything in her wallet. But one good Samaritan went out of his way to help.

When 19-year-old Baxter Perkins hopped on the bus that day, he happened upon Stephanie King's wallet. Finding a wallet on the bust was not unusual. Taking a bus, walking to the home of the wallet owner, and waiting for someone to come home? That's unusual.

Baxter described a funny scene imagining the girl's parents trying to make sense of this 6'2" man waiting for their 16-year-old daughter.

"Not a good look," Baxter said. "I said 'I'm sorry, I just found your daughter's wallet.' Her mom stopped in her tracks."

Stephanie was crying, and her mother was shocked. When Stephanie shared her story via Facebook, it was shared over 20,000 times, with over 130,000 likes.

It wasn't Stephanie's intent to go viral, she admits, but she wanted to share a positive image of young black men in Philly.

"It was something that made me feel really good, and I just wanted to share it," Stephanie said. "We see so much negativity, especially with our young black men that I just wanted my friends to know this young black man did something that touched our hearts."

The exposure wasn't expected or desired for Baxter, but now that he has it, his message is simple and should resonate with many.

"Just do the right thing," he says. "It's not hard to be a good person."