A waitress working at the Moorhead Fryn’ Pan received what she thought, a generous tip when a girl left $12,000 at the table in a to-go box. According to the report, once the waitress noticed the to-go box, she followed the woman back to her car and tried to give the box to her. The woman rejected the offer when she replied, “No, I am good; you keep it.” When the waitress walked back into the restaurant, she looked inside and found cash rolled up in rubber bands. For the waitress, the tip seemed too good to be true, so she contacted the Moorhead Police. When police arrived to the scene, they seized the money. The waitress was told if the money wasn’t claimed in 60 days that she would receive the money. After that statement, she claims she was told to wait 90 days. After the 90 days passed, police told her she wouldn’t get the money back because it was part of a drug investigation. The waitress received a $1,000 reward instead. Now, she is suing in Clay County District Court, claiming the cash was given to her and police shouldn’t have seized it as drug money. Police argued the money had a strong smell of marijuana and therefore, falls under a state law that allows money to be seized if it’s found in relation to controlled substances. A sniff test was also performed by a police dog, in which the handler believed the dog, detected an odor. The waitress claims the money didn’t smell like marijuana, and two other restaurant employees working at the time said the same. Craig Richie, the woman’s attorney said the seizure of the money could discourage people from turning in found money. “That would mean that any money that ever had any drugs on it could be confiscated by the police at any time, Richie said. “You know how ridiculous that would be?” According to published reports, a study released in 2009 found that approximately 90 percent of U.S. dollars contain traces of cocaine.
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