Post: #1

Quote:Stacy Knutson, a struggling Minnesota waitress and mother of five, says she was searching for a "miracle" to help her family with financial problems.

But that "miracle" quickly came and went after police seized a $12,000 tip that was left at her table. Knutson filed a lawsuit in Clay County District Court stating that the money is rightfully hers. Police argue it is drug money.

Knutson was working at the Fryn' Pan in Moorhead, Minn., when, according to her attorney, Craig Richie, a woman left a to-go box from another restaurant on the table. Knutson followed the woman to her car to return the box to her.

"No I am good, you keep it," the woman said, according to the lawsuit.

Knutson did not know the woman and has not seen her since, Richie said. Knutson thought it was "strange" that the woman told her to keep it but she took it inside. The box felt too heavy to be leftovers, Ritchie said, so she opened it -- only to find bundles of cash wrapped in rubber bands.

"Even though I desperately needed the money as my husband and I have five children, I feel I did the right thing by calling the Moorhead Police," Knutson said in the lawsuit.

Police seized the money and originally told Knutson that if no one claimed it after 60 days, it was hers. She was later told 90 days, Richie said. When 90 days passed, Knutson was still without the $12,000.

Police told Knutson the money was being held as "drug money" and she would receive a $1,000 reward instead, the lawsuit states. Lt. Tory Jacobson of the Moorhead police said he could not disclose much information about the case because it is an ongoing investigation.

http://news.yahoo.com/minnesota-waitress...ories.html

Her mistake was reporting the money to the police, I don't see her winning this case.

Post: #2

Stories like this are the reason people hate the police. With the war on drugs, I think the police get to keep that money. However, I don't see how they can prove it is drug money.

Post: #3

No good deed goes unpunished.

Post: #4

(04-05-2012 05:05 PM)teh_skeeze Wrote:  Stories like this are the reason people hate the police. With the war on drugs, I think the police get to keep that money. However, I don't see how they can prove it is drug money.

I agree, I think it would have been more fair to at least give her half if they had suspicions, but in the long run its only 12g I think good PR is worth far more then that.

Post: #5

^^

You are thinking like a decent human being. The last thing a pig wants to admit is that they are wrong.

Post: #6

(04-05-2012 05:05 PM)teh_skeeze Wrote:  Stories like this are the reason people hate the police. With the war on drugs, I think the police get to keep that money. However, I don't see how they can prove it is drug money.

A random box with stacks of money in it and the details surrounding it are highly suspicious.

The mistake this woman made plain and simple is calling the police in the first place.

Post: #7

I agree that it seems suspicious, but there's no way in hell that it's drug money. Who the hell leaves 12k in ill gotten gains? Also isn't the burden of proof on the state? They can't just say "It's drug money, it's ours now. Here's a grand for your troubles."

Blatant abuse of power. Fuck anyone who tries to do the right thing.

Post: #8

(04-05-2012 05:28 PM)teh_skeeze Wrote:  Fuck anyone who tries to do the right thing.

Doing the right thing was realizing that someone left something behind and then making a honest effort to return it.

She did that and was told to keep the box.

Anything done after that has nothing to do with "the right thing".

She'll never see this money again.

Post: #9

(04-05-2012 05:28 PM)teh_skeeze Wrote:  I agree that it seems suspicious, but there's no way in hell that it's drug money. Who the hell leaves 12k in ill gotten gains?

Well, the "drug money" sounds more believable than the "someone left a twelve thousand bucks tip in Fryn' Pan" alternative.

Quote:Also isn't the burden of proof on the state? They can't just say "It's drug money, it's ours now. Here's a grand for your troubles."

It is. This is why there is a lawsuit, and the state would have to prove it in the court. She got a lawyer to represent her, and since she's struggling I assume she retained him on contingency basis - meaning her story at least sound credible to him. This is how the system works.