Bagel store manager drives 7 hours to return customer's lost keys

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A New York state bagel store clerk is being hailed as a hero after taking a 7-hour round-trip drive to return a set of keys left behind by a customer.

Diana Chong said her husband kept the car running while she popped into Bagels 101 in Middle Island to grab some coffee.

"I took my keys because I use the Bally Rewards," Chong told WPVI-TV. "I come here every morning on my way to work. And then after that, I got my bagels. I went back in the car and we drove away."

Chong said it wasn't until arriving in Honesdale, Pa., that she realized she had left the keys 180 miles away at the bagel shop. The key ring includes the fob needed to start her family vehicle.

Chong called Bagels 101 and quickly realized while talking to manager Vincent Proscia that overnighting the keys wouldn't work, as there is no mail delivery on Sunday and she and her husband both had to work Monday.

"I said I'll overnight them," Proscia said. "She called back and said that (I) can't overnight them and was like, 'I can't go to work on Monday.' I said I'll be right there. Send me the address, I'll come drop them off."

Proscia drove the 3.5 hours to drop off the couple's keys and then drove 3.5 hours home.

"It's the fact that he only knows me from coming in every morning," she said. "And he just, without hesitation came all the way. Drove three-and-a-half hours there, three-and-a-half hours back, got two hours sleep to go to work the next day. I can't ask for anything more."

Proscia said it was "just the right thing to do."