Man turns in purse, jewelry worth $1 million

SAN FRANCISCO – John Suhrhoff found a Louis Vuitton bag on a Sausalito park bench.

Inside, police say, were a 12-carat diamond ring, Cartier watch, pearl and emerald jewelry and roughly $500 in cash. The contents were worth $1 million. But the respiratory therapist didn’t think of heading to a pawn shop – he took the bag to police Monday.

The bag is now en route to a Toronto family who had been in Northern California for a wedding.

“Every person I know or associate with would have done the same thing,” said Suhrhoff, 56.

The Canadian family was sightseeing Sunday in Sausalito. Shahla Ghannadian briefly left her husband in charge of the purse, which contained jewelry she wore at the wedding. She realized the bag was gone when she returned to her San Francisco hotel.

The family went to police and didn’t have any luck – and were told chances were slim the bag would be returned. It was unclear whether the family offered Suhrhoff a reward.