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Minnesota Waitress Sues After Police Seize $12,000 'Tip'
ABC News via Yahoo ^ | 4/4/12 | Jennifer Abbey

Posted on 04/05/2012 8:19:16 AM PDT by mgstarr

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 12000; donutwatch; minnesota; tip; waitress
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To: RightOnline

my c note says it went to buy more shiny equipment and poodle shooters for SWAT


21 posted on 04/05/2012 9:06:01 AM PDT by rolling_stone
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To: mgstarr
NEVER call the police about anything you don't want them to steal.

Cops have a voracious appetite for “drug money” and any high amount of money they discover is OBVIOUSLY “drug money” and therefore theirs.

22 posted on 04/05/2012 9:07:01 AM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send GOP to DC to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism)
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To: eyeamok
unless the Revenue Agent can demonstrate a “REASONABLE SUSPICION” that a crime has been committed, you DO NOT have to produce Identification EVER.

I feel the need to recommend here that friends should check their state laws and if their state does have 'Stop and Identify' laws that they should become familiar with them.

23 posted on 04/05/2012 9:07:42 AM PDT by HenryArmitage (it was not meant that we should voyage far.)
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To: mgstarr
WHY did she get the cops involved!!??? Don't you know you are guilty till proven innocent? She should have kept her mouth shut. The less people that know your business the better off you are.
24 posted on 04/05/2012 9:12:03 AM PDT by 4yearlurker (Sorry,no tag line today.)
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To: eyeamok; HenryArmitage

Too true.

Nor should an innocent person allow himself to be intimidated by a LEO sneering, “You don’t want to appear uncooperative, do you?”

If he had probable cause or at least a victim of an actually-happened crime, he wouldn’t have to ask you to enter the lion’s den and ensnare yourself for him. Don’t yield to social pressure, because that’s all it is. Tough noogies if he can’t erect a case against you without your help. That’s his job, not yours.

The cop is not your friend.


25 posted on 04/05/2012 9:14:05 AM PDT by Titan Magroyne (What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.)
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To: Springman
That must have been pretty good service she was giving.
26 posted on 04/05/2012 9:14:38 AM PDT by McGruff (Umm...I'm thinking.)
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To: HenryArmitage

Unfortunately this comes from the Supreme Court and applies to All 57 States:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_suspicion.

Never Talk to Revenue Agents disguised as Law Enforcement Officers.


27 posted on 04/05/2012 9:17:00 AM PDT by eyeamok
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To: rolling_stone
poodle shooters...heh ; )~


28 posted on 04/05/2012 9:34:16 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: mgstarr

Bump


29 posted on 04/05/2012 9:45:34 AM PDT by lowbridge (Rep. Dingell: "Its taken a long time.....to control the people.")
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To: Vaquero

I miss old Quark.


30 posted on 04/05/2012 10:41:44 AM PDT by BigCinBigD
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To: mgstarr
Unless the bills were marked, what evidence do they have that this was drug money? (other than "it smelled like marijuana.") Also, it's strange that the woman who left the money hasn't come forward to confirm the waiteresses' story.

(Why am I suddenly reminded of the Honeynooners episode where Ralph finds a suitcase filled with money on the bus?)

31 posted on 04/05/2012 10:53:09 AM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: Vaquero
Jack booted thugs...

...what Obama-backing union do these thugs belong to.
Silly boy! Didn't you know all money is government money and they decide how much of "your" money you may keep?

Just ask any leftist -- they'll tell you.
32 posted on 04/05/2012 2:20:23 PM PDT by Peet (Cogito ergo dubito.)
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To: McGruff; mgstarr

Just read on Drudge that she will get to keep all 12K.

Would like to know what she did for such a good tip.


33 posted on 04/05/2012 5:10:27 PM PDT by Springman (Rest In Peace YaYa123 and Bahbah.)
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To: BigCinBigD
I have a real problem with this. How can the Police look at a packet of money and determine it is drug money>>>>????
What identifying marks show this money to be contaminated.???
34 posted on 04/05/2012 5:21:23 PM PDT by BooBoo1000 (I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future.,)
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To: mgstarr

Pay raises for everyone working for the city of Moorehead!


35 posted on 04/05/2012 7:37:07 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Jimmy Carter Is No Longer The Worst President To Have Served In My Lifetime.)
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To: mgstarr

Sounds like the officers wanted to emulate the “Sheriff of Nottingham”.


36 posted on 04/05/2012 8:44:32 PM PDT by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: mgstarr

LOL...they spent it on donuts.


37 posted on 04/05/2012 10:02:17 PM PDT by this_ol_patriot (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner)
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To: mgstarr

There is no situation in your life that is not made worse by the addition of a cop.


38 posted on 04/06/2012 7:42:52 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Shut up and drill.)
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To: Lazamataz
There is no situation in your life that is not made worse by the addition of a cop.

It pains me to say this, but I am really starting to feel this way about them. I feel so sorry for the ones that are very good at their job, but way too many these days seem completely out of control and see everyone as a criminal, and treat people that way. Something has gone very wrong in law enforcement. I can think of a very few situations where I might call for one anymore, and none of those would involve me personally. I simply have no need for them.
39 posted on 04/06/2012 7:54:13 AM PDT by ZX12R (FUBO GTFO 2012 ! We should take off and Newt washington from orbit.)
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To: All

AP: “Minnesota waitress gets to keep $12,000 ‘tip’”

http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_20341153/minnesota-waitress-gets-keep-12-000-tip

A little “national attention” changes things a little, huh. Anybody think their “investigation” would have yielded “it’s not related to a crime” without the spotlight?

(I’m too lazy to post this as a separate link.)


40 posted on 04/06/2012 8:41:34 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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