henric
04-11-2012, 12:25 PM
Melanie Epp Apr 10, 2012
Imagine if you were a waitress and someone left you a $12,000 tip. Would you question where it had come from? When Stacy Knutson of Moorhead, Minnesota found a box containing rolled up bills to the amount of $12,000 she tried to return the take-out container to the woman who had left it. The woman, says Knutson, said she could keep it. Knutson, who worked at the Fryn’ Pan Restaurant, was suspicious, and rightfully so. It’s not everyday you get a 667% tip. Suspicious of where it had come from, she decided to call the police.
It’s not like she didn’t need the money. Knutson, who is married with five children, says that she’s had a hard time making ends meet on her waitress’ salary. But she felt good about reporting the money to the police because it was “the right thing” to do.
"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 reported in the lawsuit. "We do everything we can to make ends meet, but often times everything is not covered."
Moorhead police spokesperson, Lt. Tory Jacobson, says they’re there to help, not to make things worse. The money, they say, had an overwhelming smell of marijuana, so it needed to be sent to the canine unit for confirmation.
“The dog gave a positive indication of narcotics residue, and so now investigators are looking into a narcotics investigation. We have to seize the money and put it into evidence," said Jacobson to ABC news.
After the money was seized and investigated, Knutson was left to wonder whether or not she’d ever see the month again. The police had told her that if would be hers if no one claimed it after 90 days. When no one did, she enquired about the money. The police informed her that it was drug-seized money and that they had to process it for release. This meant going through the court system.
Knutson and her attorney filed a lawsuit for the $12,000 just last week. After hearing her case, the judge ruled that the money was hers to keep. By last Thursday at 2 pm, the $12,000 dollar sum was returned to Knutson and the investigation closed.
Did she have to turn the $12,000 in? No. Did she do the right thing? I think so, yes. Would I have done it? Yes, but reluctantly – and always with the hope that it wouldn’t be claimed. But then wouldn’t we all?
What would you do if you received a suspiciously large sum of money as a tip?
Imagine if you were a waitress and someone left you a $12,000 tip. Would you question where it had come from? When Stacy Knutson of Moorhead, Minnesota found a box containing rolled up bills to the amount of $12,000 she tried to return the take-out container to the woman who had left it. The woman, says Knutson, said she could keep it. Knutson, who worked at the Fryn’ Pan Restaurant, was suspicious, and rightfully so. It’s not everyday you get a 667% tip. Suspicious of where it had come from, she decided to call the police.
It’s not like she didn’t need the money. Knutson, who is married with five children, says that she’s had a hard time making ends meet on her waitress’ salary. But she felt good about reporting the money to the police because it was “the right thing” to do.
"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 reported in the lawsuit. "We do everything we can to make ends meet, but often times everything is not covered."
Moorhead police spokesperson, Lt. Tory Jacobson, says they’re there to help, not to make things worse. The money, they say, had an overwhelming smell of marijuana, so it needed to be sent to the canine unit for confirmation.
“The dog gave a positive indication of narcotics residue, and so now investigators are looking into a narcotics investigation. We have to seize the money and put it into evidence," said Jacobson to ABC news.
After the money was seized and investigated, Knutson was left to wonder whether or not she’d ever see the month again. The police had told her that if would be hers if no one claimed it after 90 days. When no one did, she enquired about the money. The police informed her that it was drug-seized money and that they had to process it for release. This meant going through the court system.
Knutson and her attorney filed a lawsuit for the $12,000 just last week. After hearing her case, the judge ruled that the money was hers to keep. By last Thursday at 2 pm, the $12,000 dollar sum was returned to Knutson and the investigation closed.
Did she have to turn the $12,000 in? No. Did she do the right thing? I think so, yes. Would I have done it? Yes, but reluctantly – and always with the hope that it wouldn’t be claimed. But then wouldn’t we all?
What would you do if you received a suspiciously large sum of money as a tip?