Moorhead, Minn. —
Authorities decided Thursday to return a $12,000 tip to a Minnesota waitress after concluding it wasn’t drug money after all.
Stacy Knutson of Moorhead had said that a customer told her she could keep a takeout container that she left behind at the Fryn’ Pan restaurant. When she opened the box later, according to her attorney, she found three wads of bills – $100s, $50s, $20s and $10s – wrapped in rubber bands.
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Police initially told her she could keep the money if no one claimed it, but later said it was part of a drug investigation and seized it. They said a police dog detected the odor of drugs on the cash.
On Thursday, after the case drew national attention, Assistant Clay County Attorney Michelle Lawson told reporters the money could not be tied to a criminal investigation, and that Knutson would get a check for the $12,000, The Forum of Fargo, N.D., reported (http://bit.ly/HlefWC).
Knutson sued last month to get the money back, saying she believed the money was an anonymous gift left behind a few months ago by someone who knew that she, her husband and five children were struggling with severe financial difficulties.
The lawsuit said Knutson was working when a customer left behind a takeout box from another restaurant. She followed the diner to her car and tried to return the box but the woman said, “No, I am good, you keep it,” the lawsuit said.
Her attorney, Craig Richie, said Wednesday that she didn’t know the box contained money until she went back to the kitchen and opened it. Even though Knutson really needed the money, she decided to call police, he said. After no one claimed the money, that confirmed for her that the money was truly a gift, Richie said. Her lawsuit said she believed the windfall was God’s way of answering her family’s prayers.
