Stacy Knutson, a server at the Fryn' The waitress named Knutson serves in Pan Restaurant in Moorhead got the tip back in November from a customer who forgot her takeout box inside the restaurant.
Knutson followed the customer and returned her the box but the customer told her to keep it. When Knutson opened it, she found $12,000 in cash.
Knutson called local police and turned in the cash as lost property.
At first, police said the cash would be hers if it remained unclaimed for 60 days.
At the end of the 60 days, however, the department told Knutson she would have to wait another 30 days to get the money.
Then police told her she would not receive the money at all because it smelled of marijuana and had been seized under a state law.
Police offered Knutson a $1,000 as a reward for turning the cash in. She refused the reward and filed suit.
In affidavits, Knutson and two other restaurant employees said they detected no odor at all.
On Thursday, Craig Richie, Knutson's attorney, said the department had changed its mind and will return the $12,000 to her.
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