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William Shatner Had a Lucky Run-in With This Local Fruit Farm

The fruit farm owner has had to track down people who lost their wallets before, but this was different.

by Devan McGuinness
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 08: William Shatner speaks during FAN EXPO at Ernest N. Morial Conv...
Erika Goldring/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

A small family-run fruit farm has quite the story to tell after someone stopped to buy cherries and corn, then left their wallet behind. While it’s not the first time it’s happened at this small farm, it is the most memorable one because when they looked into the wallet — to find the owner’s name to hopefully return it — they recognized the name right away. It was none other than William Shatner. Yes, him.

According to Washington Post, the share-worthy store began last week at B&T Farms, located in Gilroy, California. Sophia Tognetti, 15, and a friend of hers were manning the fruit stand when an older gentleman stopped to purchase some cold cherries and corn on his way back to Beverly Hills. After he left, Sophia noticed he had left his wallet behind, so she kept hold of it until she met back up with her dad.

It's not the first time someone has left their wallet, Sophia’s dad, Gary, explained to The Post. Usually when it happens they do what they can to track down the owner so they can return it. And that’s what the intention was for this wallet, too. So Gary looked inside.

“I was like, ‘You gotta be kidding me,” Gary recalled saying. “This guy did not drop his wallet,’” adding that the ID in the wallet all pointed to one person: William Shatner — yes, Captain Kirk from Star Trek.

“They remembered him because he had a strange request that most people don’t need,” Gary explained, and that’s how his daughter and friend were able to confirm the wallet card was the man they spoke to at their farm.

“He wanted two baskets of white cherries, four red, but he wanted them from the coolers because he said he had a long drive to Beverly Hills. He wanted them cold. He likes his cherries cold. And then he wanted $2 worth of corn.”

So Gary did what he’s done in every similar situation—he sought to track down the owner of the wallet so he could return it. First up, he contacted a friend of his at the local police department.

Eventually, after convincing his police friend that it was really William at his fruit farm, the local department coordinated with the Beverly Hills Police Department—who were able to eventually get in touch with William’s agent.

The wallet was set to William through FedEx, plus Gary added a few extra souvenirs. The wallet was successfully returned, and William took a moment to thank the Tognetti family and the police for their help.

“I would like to thank Gary and Natalie of B&T Farms @TfarmsB for their extreme honesty in returning my lost wallet. They are obviously good citizens,” William tweeted. “I would also like to thank Officer Mark Tarasco and Sergeant John Ballard from the @GilroyPD My best, Bill.”

William got his wallet back, and the small town of Gilroy, California, now has a fun story to tell people as they drive through.