William Shatner, who played Capt. James Kirk on on the 1960s television series “Star Trek” and became the oldest person to travel into space in 2021, accidentally left his wallet at a northern California fruit stand earlier this month, KGO-TV reported.
Shatner, 91, was at Gary Tognetti’s fruit stand in Gilroy, the television station reported.
Tognetti, 50, who owns B& T Farms, was not at the stand when the actor showed up. His 15-year-old daughter sold an older man four bags of cold cherries and $2 worth of corn, KGO reported. The man drove away but left his wallet in a corn bin, the news outlet reported.
The next day, Sophia Tognetti showed her father the wallet.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Gary Tognetti told The Washington Post when he realized who owned the wallet.
“She had no clue who he was,” Tognetti told “Today.”
Tognetti found a driver’s license, a COVID-19 vaccine card, along with a credit card, an ATM and a CVS card -- all with Shatner’s name on them, according to the news outlet.
Tognetti texted his friend, Gilroy Police Department Officer Mark Tarasco, KGO reported.
“I told him, ‘Hey, we found this wallet,’ and he wasn’t quite sure if I was telling a little joke,” Tognetti said.
“I went and immediately phone called to Gary to try to figure out why Gary, of all people, has Mr. Shatner’s wallet in his possession,” Tarasco told the television station.
Tognetti, 50, is a fourth-generation farmer who grew up in Gilroy, a city located about an hour south of San Francisco, the Post reported. He grows corn, cherries, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers on his 3,500-acre farm, according to the newspaper. He grew up working at produce stands.
It was a rare brush with a celebrity for Tognetti.
“At my parents’ fruit stand, (San Francisco 49ers quarterback) Joe Montana stopped by, and we got his autograph there when I was pretty young,” Tognetti told the Post.
Tognetti also reached out to a friend at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Tarasco told KGO that there was a friendly competition between the officers to see who would contact Shatner first.
“It was a race to try to figure out who was gonna contact Mr. Shatner first,” Tarasco told the television station. “If you were to call Beverly Hills PD, they would tell you that there was a few different people calling, trying to get a hold of Mr. Shatner in Beverly Hills.”
Tarasco contacted the Beverly Hills Police Department and was eventually connected to Shatner’s agent. It took two hours to return the wallet.
“They actually FedEx-ed it that Thursday, and he had it by Friday,” Tognetti told KGO.
On Tuesday, Shatner thanked Tognetti and his wife on Twitter.
“I would like to thank Gary and Natalie of B&T Farms @TfarmsB for their extreme honesty in returning my lost wallet,” Shatner posted on his verified Twitter account. “They are obviously good citizens. I would also like to thank Officer Mark Tarasco and Sergeant John Ballard from the @GilroyPD My best, Bill.”
The family-owned farm quickly answered the actor’s tweet with their own post on Twitter: “It was our pleasure Mr. Shatner. I grew up watching Star Trek with my dad. B and T Farms and GILROY Law Enforcement are friendly inhabitants of the Federation so hold up on hitting them with phasers. Live long and prosper sir Shatner! Give us a holler the next time you stop by!”
Tognetti told the Post that he wants to put a sign up outside of his stand that says, “William Shatner was here.”
It would be a great marketing tool for the fruit stand to “live long and prosper.”
“I’m waiting for people to start popping in and say, ‘Hey, is this where William shopped?’” Tognetti told the newspaper.
Photos: William Shatner through the years Here are some memorable moments from actor William Shatner's life in the public eye. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1966: American actor Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and Canadian actor William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk appear in a scene from "The Man Trap," the premiere episode of "Star Trek," which aired on September 8, 1966. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1969: Yvonne Craig plays Marta (a green alien from Orion) and William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk on the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode, "Whom Gods Destroy." (CBS via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1974: Robert Reed, Marjoe Gortner, Andy Griffith and William Shatner appear in the ABC TV movie "Pray for the Wildcats." (American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1979: William Shatner and wife Marcy Lafferty attend the premiere of "The Cina Syndrome" on March 6, 1979, at Mann Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1982: Leonard Nimoy, Marvin Chomsky and William Shatner appear at the 34th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, on September 19, 1982. (George Long/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1985: T.J. Hooker, a CBS television police drama. Pictured from left are James Darren (as Officer Jim Corrigan), Heather Locklear (as Officer Stacy Sheridan) and William Shatner (as Sgt. T.J. Hooker). (CBS via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1987: Actor William Shatner and date Marcy Lafferty arrive at the 1987 Academy Awards. (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1990: William Shatner attends 16th annual People's Choice Awards on March 11, 1990, at the Universal Ampitheater in Universal City, California. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1992: Loni Anderson, Ann-Margret and William Shatner during Environment Special Taping With William Shatner at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 1995: Actor William Shatner during an interview with host Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on May 31, 1995. (Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2000: Candice Bergen and William Shatner during the "Miss Congeniality" Los Angeles Premiere at Mann Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. (Sam Levi/WireImage)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2002: Actors Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner appear at a public signing of the recently released DVD/VHS of "Mind Meld: Secrets behind the voyage of a Lifetime" on March 17, 2002, in Los Angeles. (J. Emilio Flores/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2004: Actor William Shatner poses with his award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series backstage at the 2004 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 12, 2004, at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2006: Actor William Shatner and wife Elizabeth Anderson Martin arrive at the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on August 27, 2006, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2008: Actor William Shatner and Elizabeth Anderson Martin arrive at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre on September 21, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2009: Actor William Shatner accepts the Ultimate Scream award from actor Morgan Freeman onstage during Spike TV's Scream 2009 held at the Greek Theatre on October 17, 2009, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2011: Figure skater and TV personality Scott Hamilton, rock legend Joe Walsh, Lionel Richie and actor William Shatner attend the 2011 CMT Artists of the Year celebration at the Bridgestone Arena on November 29, 2011, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2013: Actor William Shatner and wife Elizabeth Shatner depart the Oscars at Hollywood and Highland Center on February 24, 2013, in Hollywood, California. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2015: Co-host Brad Paisley, actor William Shatner and co-host Carrie Underwood speak onstage at the 49th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 4, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2016: Actors Scott Bakula and William Shatner attend the "Star Trek" panel during Comic-Con International 2016 at San Diego Convention Center on July 23, 2016, in San Diego. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2018: LeVar Burton, Sonequa Martin-Green, Walter Koenig, Jeri Ryan, Alex Kurtzman and William Shatner pose in the press room at the 2018 Creative Arts Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 8, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years 2019: William Shatner and Jeff Cook of Alabama are seen at The Grand Ole Opry on February 15, 2019, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Photos: William Shatner through the years William Shatner speaks at the William Shatner Spotlight panel during Day 1 of New York Comic Con 2021 at Jacob Javits Center on October 07, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for ReedPop) (Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for ReedPop)
Photos: William Shatner through the years Star Trek actor William Shatner speaks during a media availability on the landing pad of Blue Origin’s New Shepard after flying into space on October 13, 2021 near Van Horn, Texas. Shatner became the oldest person to fly into space on the ten minute flight. He flew with three other civilians aboard mission NS-18, the second human spaceflight for the company which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Mario Tama/Getty Images)