Rosemount (MN) teen hands out thousands of dollars after finding drug money

Minneapolis StarTribune (aka The Red Star) ^ | 3/12/09 | Abby Simmons - Staff Reporter

[MplsSteve]

A Rosemount teen got to play high roller for a day after finding a plastic bag containing $18,000 in a highway ditch, and he gave away thousands of dollars to classmates on Tuesday before authorities got involved.

Dakota County officials are releasing few details about the source of the money, but they have a pretty compelling clue: When the student, 16, led them back to the spot where he found the money, they discovered 4 pounds of marijuana and some scales.

"This is tied in to drugs, obviously," said Sgt. Joe Leku of the Dakota County Drug Task Force. He would not disclose other details of the case, saying it could jeopardize the investigation.

Investigators learned that a student had been handing out $100 bills when a school bus company reported it to a school resource officer on Tuesday, said Chief Dakota County Deputy David Bellows. The boy had given out thousands of dollars before deputies started going back and collecting the money. They recovered almost all of it, Bellows said.

When the boy first told them he'd found the money in a ditch, investigators were skeptical.

[TigersEye]

If the pot was in the same location as the money, why wasn't the pot and scales taken by the student too? Was the pot planted in an effort to confiscate the cash?

Are you saying you don't believe that the drug dealer came to the meeting spot, found the buyer hadn't showed and decided he'd leave the dope (with scales) in the ditch on good faith that the buyer would eventually show up and leave the cash? What happened to make you so cynical?

[dragnet2]

Are you saying you don't believe that the drug dealer came to the meeting spot, found the buyer hadn't showed and decided he'd leave the dope (with scales) in the ditch on good faith that the buyer would eventually show up and leave the cash?

LOL! Are you suggesting the drug dealer is of good faith, and transported 4 pounds of dope with scales, to the area, and just decided to leave the merchandise, hoping the drug buyer was also be of good faith, and would leave the money in it's place?

That's the funniest thing I've heard in the past 10 minutes...You're joking right?

What happened to make you so cynical?

Long story of hard experience dealing with assorted low life and liars of all stripes. I never go into personal background details, so I'll leave it there.

[mysterio]

I’m tempted to say I think that’s a good kid for sharing the cash. Plus, I think the drug war is a miserable failure.

[TigersEye]

Well, it has become a harsh cold world when you can’t leave your drugs or your buy money in a ditch without some school kid coming along and botching the transaction.