What say you? Minnesota Waitress Sues After Police Seize $12,000 'Tip

[mfcorey1]

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.

[Related: Firefighters donate lottery winnings to ailing colleague]

"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.

http://news.yahoo.com/minnesota-waitress-sues-police-seize-12-000-tip-212757225--abc-news-topstories.html

[Sgent]

1. The burden of proof should be on the police

If they have evidence of a crime, charge her, if not IMHO the constitution prevents seizing.

I know that the drug related money seizure laws are somewhat nuts, but unless the police have actual evidence...

[MADem]

25. I'm with you--no evidence, no case. nt

[monmouth]

2. Calling the police is no longer the right thing nowadays. She'll never see that

money again.

[EOTE]

9. Yep. Incredibly sad, but very true.

I'd only call the police now if my life depended on it, and even then I'd be rather reluctant.q

[Dawson Leery]

3. This is why you do NOT call police.

Your local Coppers are entitled to do whatever they want.

[Politicalboi]

4. Why involve the police

If the money was a mistake, the woman would have come back for it. Just wait 30 days. If she doesn't come back for it, then she should have kept it. What a shame the cops feel they have the right to money that isn't theirs.

[hifiguy]

5. Her mistake was calling the swine.

She will never see a dime of that money.

[Honeycombe8]

11. I take offense at name calling policemen. Some of them are good guys...they're just earning a living

and trying to do a job.

What do you do for a living?

[hifiguy]

17. If it matters, I am an attorney

at a firm that represents injured railroad workers.

I have plenty of reasons to despise cops.

When I was a teenager, some friends and I were booted out of a public park in the middle of the day by a swellhead cop. Our "crime" was apparently having long hair (in the 1970s) as we weren't drinking beer or smoking weed - we were playing frisbee.

A cop once deliberately lied on the accident report of a fender-bender I was involved in to make me look like the person who caused the accident.

My home was once searched without a warrant - I was not present at the time -when the neighbors reported a burglar breaking into my home.

Just a couple of years ago I was given bogus traffic tickets by a shitheel suburban cop that resulted in my driver's license being revoked and my car being impounded. It took more than two months to get it straightened out at a cost of more than $1000. When I went to court the prosecutor immediately threw everything out and told me the whole thing was a bunch of BS.

There are a few good cops but they are the exception to the rule, especially in the suburbs.

[Honeycombe8]

32. A lot of people hate attorneys. They're low-life, ambulance chasin', money-grubbin',

greedy, arrogant, smartass, know-it-alls. So says my brother and a lot of other people. They're also unethical and will do things illegally because they know how to get away with it, as long as they make a buck out of it.

There are attorneys like that.

But in actuality, they're people who went to school to become lawyers, and they're doing their job, earning a living. They're regular people, just like other people (except they make more money). Some are good. Some are bad.

It is the same with cops, cashiers, factory workers, secretaries, accountants, or anyone else.

It's bigotry to blame an entire group for the sins of SOME of that group. It's a stereotype.

I have had good experiences with cops. They're just people like you who are making a living, not getting paid much. They are the only thing standing between order and anarchy.

It's like lawsuits. No one likes them....until they need to use one.

[frylock]

26. fuck tha police

sure, there are "good cops." but most of the "good cops" don't lift a finger to address the gross injustice that is meted out by the "bad cops" and are more than happy to turn a blind eye, what with the thin blue line. that, IMHO, also makes them "bad cops."

[mike_c]

30. pigs just doing their job for the 1%....

The drug task force in my county seizes twelve times the assets seized in the rest of California COMBINED, then they buy themselves $500 hand made shoes (safety equipment) and take small group vacations at luxury hotels and resorts outside Disney World and Palm Springs (training). This town has about 25K residents, but the police have a militarized SWAT team and they've killed quite a few people in recent years for the crime of being depressed, for refusing to come out of their homes when told to, for truancy, and "fleeing." You'll forgive me if I think they're mostly bad apples, perhaps with a few good ones thrown in. Asa profession, they thug for the 1%. They are not our friends.

[Honeycombe8]

34. You sound a lot like my bigoted Republican brother. Really.

He uses examples to "prove" how bad black people are, how fraudulent the Katrina so-called victims are, how crooked all lawyers are, how criminal black politicians are, how crooked Medicaid recipients are, etc.

He'll admit that yeah, there are some good blacks. But most of 'em aren't. And he could show you plenty of pics of bloody white people that black people have injured, or pictures of items stolen by black people from white people. He recently went on and on about how there's this big scam about crooked people getting those wheelchair things from Medicare (you have to be poor and sick to get one), then selling them for a lot of money.

It's easy to do what my brother and you do. Use some examples to "prove" the entire group is bad. And that's the definition of bigotry. The next time you call someone racist or bigoted, think about yourself and how you have just done what they do.

Recognizing that people are individuals is hte first step to overcoming bigotry.

[Honeycombe8]

37. Turns out the OP was wrong. Cops didn't keep the $ 'cause it was drug $.

They were holding it for drug investigation. They've finished the investigation. It couldn't be tied to drugs. They've returned it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/minnesota-waitress-gets-12000-disputed-tip-back-from-police-after-investigation/2012/04/05/gIQAipgCyS_story.html

Oops. Boy, is your face red.

[Marr]

50. I'm sure the press attention had nothing to do with it.

Apparently they seized this money last year. It recently started getting attention, and they suddenly finished 'investigating' it.

[TransitJohn]

35. It's the 98% of them ruining it for the good ones eom

n/t

[Marr]

48. And *a lot of them* have earned the animosity.

In my experience, the problem isn't a few bad apples. The profession itself attracts thugs, and fosters a 'protect our own' sort of attitude.

[Honeycombe8]

36. Well, you and the other people with issues were wrong. And the OP was wrong to begin with

Turns out the police didn't keep the $ because it was drug money. They were holding it back because it was "part of a drug investigation."

The investigation is over. The $ couldn't be tied to drugs. They've returned the money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/minnesota-waitress-gets-12000-disputed-tip-back-from-police-after-investigation/2012/04/05/gIQAipgCyS_story.html

[mike_c]

6. every dime in my community's economy has passed through "drug dealer's" hands....

Growing marijuana is the backbone of my northern California county's economy. Every car sale, every trip to the grocery store, every restaurant tip was "drug money." The drug task force of the local police dept in my very sparsely populated rural county annually seizes 12 times the value of property in "asset forfeitures" as is seized in the rest of the state COMBINED (at least according to the local newspaper). If they applied the standards the Moorhead police are applying, they'd seize every business in the county, because every one is utterly dependent upon "drug money."

When the money was left as a tip, it ceased to be drug money and became a miracle windfall for a working woman.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Perhaps, but not but after the "War on Drugs" enriched police get a hold of it.

Then you can count on the cash obtaining the smell of cannabis.

"I know the smell of marijuana," Nickolas Fronning, a line cook at the Fryn' Pan, said in an affidavit. "I can also assure you that there was no smell of marijuana on the bills or coming from the box."

The police have become compromised, by this dysfunctional, insane and corruptive "War on Drugs."

Even if it was drug money, the only person damaged by this policy was the waitress.

Thanks for the thread, mfcorey.

[jmowreader]

45. It's usually the smell of cocaine

IIRC 90 percent of the 100-dollar bills in the United States have cocaine residues on them; if a Drug Warrior wants to keep some seized money all he or she needs do is set the money in front of a drug dog; when the dog alerts they have "proof" the money is drug-related.

I'm surprised someone hasn't started training drug dogs to alert on the smell of money.

[edgineered]

8. Calling the cops amounts to turning yourself in.

Not to worry though, if you can't think of a reason to be jailed, beaten, profiled, mocked or fined the local police may accept cash.

[Snake Alchemist]

10. NEVER call the police! nt

[Honeycombe8]

44. Call police if you're being followed or your house is being invaded. DON'T call if your tip is big!

I have no idea why she called the police in the first place.

[Downwinder]

12. Theft under color of law.

Now, they do have a crime to investigate.

[Honeycombe8]

13. She must've suspected something was wrong, or she wouldn't have called the police.

It's the law...you can't take illegal money, even if you don't know it's illegal at the time. Some famous people just lost lawsuits, when they were sued by teh govt to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars because the $ they won at poker was paid for out of stolen money, stolen by the poker player who had lost to the famous people.

So if she thought it might be illegal, and she was okay with that, she should've kept her mouth shut & not even tell her co-workers.

[Arctic Dave]

16. "suspected", "thought it might be".

Do the police have a crystal ball that tells them outright it is "drug money"? If not, they are nothing more then thieving shitstains.

[Comrade Grumpy]

23. Don't hurt yourself bending over backwards to protect these thieving cops.

They stole the woman's cash. Because they could. With no evidence (that I've heard) it was linked to any criminal activity.

You might want to read up on asset forfeiture laws and their corrosive effects:

The Institute for Justice, "Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture"
http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3114&Itemid=165

The ACLU, "Easy Money: Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse by Police"
http://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/easy-money-civil-asset-forfeiture-abuse-police]

[aikoaiko]

14. I hope she gets it back.

[zbdent]

15. Isn't there some statement that, due to the availability of drugs, almost any dollar bill (mainly

20s) contains some trace of cocaine or other drug residue? Therefore, any corrupt cop could seize all your money for "testing positive" for drugs. (contact of a $1 with a $20 might do enough "damage&quot

(I did a quick glance at the comments on the story, and one poster included a story about an attorney who "borrowed" a 20 from a judge's wallet, and the drug-sniffing dog reacted as if it was "drug money&quot

[slampoet]

29. 90% of US money has traces of cocaine on it.

and this has been true for 30 years and it also applies to US money everywhere. Doesn't matter if it is on the streets of DC or circulated overseas.

[Blue_Tires]

18. Who leaves cash like that in a greasy spoon?

If you had cash like that, why would you even eat there?

Did they take a REAL good look at the cash to make sure it not fake?

Or maybe it was some kind of under-the-table deal and someone mistakenly passed the wrong box during the switch??

[Snake Alchemist]

19. Good cornbeef hash?

[Odin2005]

49. It's Minnesota Nice, people just do that here.

[ooglymoogly]

20. The sheeple have been programmed to do just what this woman did.

It is not difficult for the police to find an excuse for keeping, aka stealing, the money....and the excuse is always the same...."Drug money".

"Drug war" is the platform for mass plunder and societal disaster, now costing in the trillions coupled with mass incarceration to 'for profit' prisons; the imprisonment of non criminals on a massive scale.

Our government has become a disastrously predatory vulture, flying under the banner of drug wars and our court system is aiding and abetting for its cut.

Color this evil Repuke+Dino, as are most of the disasters that have befallen this country in all its history. I do not mean Republican or Democrat throughout history for both have adorned good and evil, I mean the evil and predatory mind that now controls the Pug and Dino mindset.

[DeSwiss]

21. K&R

[dembotoz]

22. money should be hers

but she won't get it.

cops have extraordinary rights when it comes to taking property when they say the word drugs.

lucky they did not sieze the restaurant--it was where the transaction took place.....

[XanaDUer]

24. Wtf did she call the cops?

She's learned an expensive lesson.

[Rex]

27. Sigh...the police are such a pain in the ass sometimes.

People do strange things sometimes, sadly most PDs are only allowed binary thinking...so the money must be drug money. They are not allowed to think for themselves. I guess one day they will all be robots, hey can't bribe a robot!

[Noodleboy13]

28. Update. She got to keep the money.

From today's StarTrib website

http://www.startribune.com/local/146315905.html

peace,
Noodleboy

[XanaDUer]

31. Good

She sounds like a typical hard-working struggling American worker.

[MrSlayer]

33. Why would you call the cops?

You take the cash and shut up about it. Now she'll be on the hook for taxes and all that. Glad she got to keep it but there never should have been a possibility of having it taken away.

[MattBaggins]

38. God forbid she pay her taxes

[MrSlayer]

41. In normal circumstances I agree.

But in this case it is best to say nothing at all to anyone. If you find a bunch of cash in the street would you call the IRS and tell them? It's folly to do so.

[pitohui]

39. you can't launder money without paying taxes on it

look if you believe that someone tipped $12K in a place called the frying pan with legal money then i can't help you

down here in the real world where some of us have worked for tips in greasy spoons...there's no way this went down as a tip...she's laundering money and after paying taxes/splitting with the drug seller (if she herself is not the drug seller) she'll still have more "clean" money than she had when it was $12K of stinky cash sitting in a box

true it was a STUPID way to launder the cash but criminals, as a class, are not usually known for their intelligence

next question?

are the chattering classes THIS isolated from reality? i guess they are

[MrSlayer]

43. This would be an incredibly stupid way to launder money.

If that is in fact what was going on here.

[2ndAmForComputers]

51. Stranger and more expensive acts of kindness have happened.

A poor working person got a nice windfall. I know such an event is hard to swallow for some people, but it does happen.

[Kaleva]

40. Apparently a judge had to decide who the money belonged to.

She did in the end get it back.

[cyglet]

42. Update to this story

http://www.startribune.com/local/146315905.html

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

46. We're the government and we're here to help!!

LOL... what did she think was going to happen?!?
Never talk to the cops. Don't tell anybody. Loose lips sink ships.

[Odin2005]

47. This is al over the local news here.