Man returns money to Phoenix record store 24 years later

PHOENIX - A Valley man with a guilty conscience, did the right thing and returned money to a record store 24 years after he committed a crime.

It happened at Stinkweeds Record store in Central Phoenix.

Two weeks ago a man walked into the store and asked the owner if she could break a $20 bill.

"I remembered him, but I also knew he hadn't been in the store in a long time," said owner Kimber Lanning.

Lanning gave the man a $10 bill and two $5 bills. The man handed her back the $10.

The man confessed to Lanning that 24 years ago, when he was just as a teenager, he switched price tags on a record he wanted which saved him $10 on the deal. 

But the petty theft had weighed heavily on his mind for all that time. "He spent all those years thinking about it, and then made it good," said Lanning.

The now 40-something father also admitted he did the right thing to set a good example for his three daughters.

"I think people want to do the right thing," said Lanning.

She said in similar incident years ago, the store received a package with a CD and money inside.

In the letter that came with it, the person admitted stealing the CD and felt so bad; they decided to send it back along with the money it would have cost.